The view of truckers expressed by a Conservative government minister when asked about the dangers of Brexit are “classist,” “inappropriate” and “ignorant,” according to a spokesperson for the Road Haulage Association (RHA).
As reported in FreightWaves, the risks to truckers, businesses and supply chains as a result of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 are severe. Yet when quizzed about these risks, a U.K. government minister told the political editor of The Sunday Times earlier this month that one of his main concerns was the potentially deviant behavior of working-class truck drivers if they were caught in traffic jams.
In particular, an “increase in the number of lorry drivers visiting voyeuristic sex sites” was a government worry, reported The Sunday Times.
“One of the things we talk about in these no-deal meetings concerns hauliers and their activities,” the minister told the newspaper. “The main thing is whether they will turn up at the Channel ports with the right paperwork. But there are also dogging hotspots all over the place.”
‘Dogging,’ for international readers, is a slang term in Britain for having sex in public while other people watch. According to The Sunday Times, “it flourishes in lay-bys, car parks and woodland across the home counties.”
The article added that, “Ministers believe the issue is more likely to flare up with British truckers.”
The Minister added, “Do Europeans even do dogging? There is something deeply British about dogging.”
The Minister’s assumption that working class truck drivers would immediately abandon their cargo and take to the woods for deviant sex if left stranded in traffic was belittled by Duncan Buchanan, policy director at RHA.
“It’s ridiculous because it assumes lorry drivers are going to be taking their lorries and their loads and go dogging. I mean, it’s just ridiculous. It doesn’t happen,” he told FreightWaves.
“I think it is probably one of the most absurd stories I’ve heard. It is so absurd that people might laugh but, really, it’s not funny.
“Its lazy, it’s ignorant, and it is class based, actually. It shows the really poor attitude some people have to other people’s jobs. Lorry drivers do a fantastic service. They provide us with the food we eat, the coffee we drink, the clothes we wear, the mobile phone you are using – everything has been on a truck.”
Buchanan added, “And lorry drivers do that every single day. They – and all people – need to be treated with respect for the jobs they do. This sort of attitude about others is simply inappropriate.”
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