Transport minister Grant Shapps has dimissed a call to “look at” extending the Brexit transition period to allow for the UK to deal with the Covid-19 chaos.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Shapps rejected calls from Nicola Sturgeon to ensure the UK is “100%” focused on the coronavirus over the coming weeks.
He said: “Nah, I think the one thing that would add fuel to fire is ending something that everyone has known is ending for a very long time which is the end of the transition period, which completes on the 31st December.
“So absolutely not.
“The important thing is businesses continue to prepare, that individuals are prepared. And as I say as it happens it is because we’ve got some of those contingencies in place, for example being able to open Manston as a lorry park for what’s actually happening today.
“That planning is in place because of all the work that has gone on with the Kent Resilience Forum, preparing for the end of the transition in any case.”
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