Statement on help for stranded British nationals

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made a further statement on the disruption to passengers by the volcanic ash cloud and help for British nationals stranded abroad.

Read the statement

We’ve just had a meeting of our National Security Council and I’ve talked to the Transport Secretary. In addition we had a meeting of our civil contingencies group last night and went through a huge amount of detail about what needs to be done.

Some of our airports are open today as a result of a window of opportunity being available. We know that further volcanic ash will be in the clouds over the next day or two, so we’re taking advantage of the window of opportunity. But our first priority is that passengers will always be safe when they travel and we’re having discussions with the manufacturers and with the airline authorities, and also with safety representatives and the Met Office, about what would be safe corridors that we might be able to use in the future.

In the meantime, I think it’s important that everybody knows that if they can get to a Channel port we can get them across from Europe to the United Kingdom. Ferry capacity is available; standing alongside that is HMS Ocean which would be available to take people across the Channel if necessary, and behind that is Ark Royal which could take considerable numbers of people back to Britain. So we are saying to people that it’s pretty clear that there is capacity available at the ferry ports. If people are trying to get back from Europe then they should use the facilities that are available and we will lay on extra facilities, including HMS Ocean and HMS Ark Royal, if these are needed. They are ready and available to help people get back across. If people are coming from Asia and from America and it’s difficult to get into Britain there is a possibility of coming through Madrid. Madrid is to be seen as a hub airport for that. And we have already made available 100 coaches and more that can transport people from Madrid to the border and to the ferry ports.

We are doing everything we can to make the arrangements that are best for passengers. I understand the inconvenience this is causing, I understand that many people are stranded and want to get the right information about how they can get back. In the meantime, the airline authorities are maintaining their responsibilities for food and accommodation, but we hope that the information we can make available through the Foreign Office website about the access to Channel ports will help people make a decision about how they can best get home.

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