London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

Lorry drivers 'must expect Covid test to enter UK'

Lorry drivers 'must expect Covid test to enter UK'

A haulage industry source has said they have been told by the government to expect drivers to have to take a Covid test when coming into the UK from mainland Europe.

The tests are expected to take place on the UK side.

Lorry drivers had previously been exempt from testing coming into the UK.

The Department for Transport said it was "carefully monitoring" an increase in cases in Europe and would keep all measures under review.

Four days ago Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a third wave of the pandemic in Europe could "wash up on the UK's shores."

This week Germany was due to extend its lockdown over Easter due to a third wave of infections, although it soon reversed the decision. France's president Emmanuel Macron said he wanted vaccinations "morning, noon and night" after an increase in intensive care cases and hospital admissions.

Now, some in the haulage industry say they've been told to expect that lorry drivers will be required to take a Covid test after travelling from mainland Europe to England.

France has stopped mandatory testing for hauliers travelling from the UK to France, a measure that had been in place from December due concerns about a UK variant of the disease.

Hauliers travelling from the UK to Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands still require a test.

The Department for Transport said: "We are carefully monitoring the increase in cases in Europe and will keep all measures under review as we cautiously remove restrictions throughout our roadmap."

The government has been encouraging international hauliers due to be in the UK for more than 48 hours to take a free coronavirus test.

Hauliers leaving the UK can also take a free test.

Tighter restrictions ahead


Trade volumes with the continent declined in January due to Covid-19 restrictions and the impact of new arrangements under Brexit.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that UK goods exported to the European Union fell 40.7% in January, while imports tumbled 28.8%.

Nevertheless, the Prime Minister has indicated the government might further tighten restrictions on arrivals from France, including hauliers, to stop new variants of the Covid-19 virus spreading from the rest of Europe.

Britain has banned foreign travel until at least 17 May, except for essential work, education or health reasons. Ministers are due to review that position in April.

Questioning the PM at the Liaison Committee on Thursday, Labour's Yvette Cooper said every week 20,000 people arrived from France, and two-thirds of them - including lorry drivers - were exempt from those restrictions.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
×