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The European Union and the UK have locked horns on several occasions since the Brexit process finally came to an end last January. The Northern Ireland issue, which plagued the long negotiations, has remained a key point of contention and threatened to precipitate into a full-out trade war only last month before the EU agreed to extend the agreed grace period. Amid warnings of potential shortages due to new rules disrupting hauliers’ entering and leaving the bloc, market commentator David Buik urged politicians on both sides of the Channel to just “grow up” and come to a solution to reinstate smooth trade.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Buik said: “So many grown-up politicians stand there and throw their toys out of the pram like children of five.
“It’s about time they all grew up. One thing is the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
“Brexit or no Brexit is ridiculous because we should be chance on a commercial basis, doing loads and loads of trade.
“One thing is a problem nobody can do anything about, which is the pandemic and a lot of these drivers have got Covid. And we don’t want them here and they don’t want us there and that’s completely understandable.”
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He continued: “But I think that’s a peripheral story which actually irritates me beyond belief because I think these politicians need their heads banging together.
“You’ve got a serious problem in the world and just the protectionism that’s been going on in every country in the world – France and Germany, for example, have never sold or bought a company since the old king died and we’re starting to get pretty protectionist ourselves.
“I just hope the signs there’s going to be a softening of the relationship between Germany and this country is not before time.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to host Chancellor Angela Merkel at Chequers on Friday.
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Both the UK and Germany have reported a severe shortage in hauliers over recent months because of the complicated combination of post-Brexit and Covid health arrangements.
In addition to a swathe of new documentation required to allow the flow of goods between the UK and the bloc, hauliers have also faced restrictions to their entry to keep the spread of the pandemic contained.
At the height of the health crisis, the Channel tunnel was shut down and lorry drivers blocked from carrying out their deliveries or from returning home without extensive checks.
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