MPs have written to the prime minister demanding clarification after the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said any additional physical checks on lorries at Dover after Brexit would be “utterly unrealistic”.

The letter came as the Freight Transport Association (FTA) said Grayling’s promise would “open up the UK’s borders to potential abuse and breaches” and that the UK government would be unable to stop any new checks being imposed on the French side.

Grayling told BBC’s Question Time there would not be any new checks on lorries, after a study said two-minute checks at the border could cause tailbacks of almost 30 miles. He said trade would be managed electronically after March 2019.

The FTA’s deputy chief executive, James Hookham, said the transport secretary “seems to have forgotten that borders have two sides, and the UK cannot dictate what happens to freight when it reaches French customs”.

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Hookham said delays could have “calamitous knock-on effects to traffic on both sides of the Channel”.

“Mr Grayling cannot speak for the French customs authorities, which will be required by EU law to undertake a percentage of physical checks on cargo such as fresh produce or medicines from a nation outside the EU, which is what the UK will become,” he said.

In a letter to Theresa May coordinated by the pro-Europe Open Britain group, MPs said the comments were not a serious solution to how to manage the border post-Brexit.

“It is extraordinary that a government that says it aims to ‘take back control’ now admits it is not even going to try to control the transfer of goods across our borders, in the event we leave the customs union,” the MPs said.

“This has major implications for our businesses, our infrastructure and our trade. It could also have huge consequences for our reputation as a country that abides by the rules and upholds international agreements. The country therefore deserves a swift and clear explanation of the government’s position.”



The 29 MPs who signed the letter include the former shadow cabinet ministers Chuka Umunna, Heidi Alexander and Chris Leslie, as well as fellow Labour MPs Rushanara Ali, Stella Creasy, Tulip Siddiq and Liz Kendall.

A study by Imperial College London found two extra minutes of checks could more than triple existing queues.

But Grayling said that would not happen. “We will maintain a free-flowing border at Dover. We will not impose checks in the port,” he said. “We don’t check lorries now; we’re not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future. The only reason we would have queues at the border is if we put in place restrictions that created those queue. We are not going to do that.

“We will manage trade electronically. Trucks will move through the border without stopping ... in the way it happens between Canada and the US.”

The comments come a day after the government defended asking businesses to sign secrecy agreements in private discussions about the UK’s future border arrangements with the EU, which reportedly include laying out scenarios for a no-deal Brexit.

In their letter to May, the MPs said the information given to businesses must be provided to MPs when they vote on the forthcoming trade bill and customs bill.

“Withholding the information from parliament and the British people is undemocratic and makes a complete mockery of parliamentary sovereignty,” the letter said. “MPs must be provided with this information in order to reach an informed view.”