IT`S GETTING SERIOUS..

I`ve lost count of the number of days Operation Stuck has been with us here in Kent - it`s been on and off for the best part of the summer but right now it looks like being on at least for the rest of this week.

There`s been a lot of talk concerning what to do about it but not much action and so a whole series of people are being inconvenienced either through striking French seamen or, more recently, increasing hordes of migrants invading the Channel Tunnel. 

We`re told that the migrants, all of whom seem to be male and between the ages of 18 and 30, are desperate people;  desperate to get away from war torn middle eastern countries or poverty stricken African ones and I absolutely understand the situation they are in and their determination to improve their circumstances and find a better life for themselves. 

But having made the perilous journey to mainland Europe, they don`t seem too desperate to want to stay in Italy, or go to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany and they indeed seem even more desperate to get out of France and into England.  They don`t seem bothered about Wales or Scotland and Ireland never gets a mention in their ambitions.   There must be a reason and I think we all know what it is but we seem reluctant to admit to it, let alone do anything about it.  

And the knock on effect of the mayhem in and around Calais is that the M20 is closed, now in both directions as the lorries stack up;  the M2 alternative is not much better (someone I know took two and a half hours do get to Faversham which would normally take 40 minutes);  and the villages strung out along the A20 are suffering gridlock.  Dave Cameron says the position is `concerning` and he feels for the lorry drivers and the holiday makers who want to get to France.  Haven`t yet heard much sympathy for us residents of Kent who have to put up with the chaos that surrounds us.

So it`s getting serious, to the extent that my son and I have a planned visit to Canterbury tomorrow to watch Kent play Hampshire in the 50-over One Day Cup competition at the St. Lawrence Ground, but that is now in serious doubt.  The traffic problems might just be too daunting and we can do without the hassle and the uncertainty of it all.  Now that is serious.

Where`s Wat Tyler when you need him?