Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) are said to be holding talks with industry chiefs over a sgortage of 100,000 truck drivers due to Brexit and the Covid pandemic. One measure could be bringing in short-term visas, the Telegraph has reported.

A source said: Everyone involved is sworn to secrecy as the Home Office is taking a very hard line.

The Home Office has the final decision on this and the DfT knows it has a very tough sell, so need the very best evidence.

British goods exports to the European Union rose to their highest since October 2019 in May, official data showed on Friday, reversing a slump at the start of 2021 when Britain exited the bloc's single market and customs union.

Britain's government is likely to view the data as backing its expectation that the change in customs arrangements would only cause temporary inconvenience to most businesses.

However, overall trade with the EU has lagged behind growth in sales to the rest of the world, and business groups said they still faced extra red tape dealing with European customers and suppliers as a result of Brexit.

"While we are seeing a modest pick-up in demand for UK goods in the last month as economies reopen, the overall climate remains fragile," the head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, William Bain, said after the data.

Britain's Office for National Statistics said goods exports to the European Union, excluding precious metals, rose to 14.0 billion pounds ($19.4 billion) in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, their highest since October 2019 and almost twice January's level.

Total goods exports of 27.9 billion pounds, excluding precious metals, were the highest since January 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic began to cause disruption.

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Imports from the EU have also risen after a slump at the start of the year, when COVID-19 disrupted traffic across the English Channel, although they remain slightly below imports from the rest of the world. Before 2021, Britain almost always sourced most of its imports from the EU.

The head of Britain's biggest port - Dover - told Reuters trade disruption could return if British holidaymakers head for European summer breaks, adding to strain on stretched customs staff.

Meanwhile, trade minister Liz Truss will discuss how to tackle threats to free and fair trade with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a five-day visit to the United States from Sunday.

"I'm visiting the U.S. to build on the progress we've already made on tackling market-distorting practices that threaten the future progress and prosperity we can make around the world through free and fair trade," said Truss.

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She will also travel to the West Coast to meet businesses in a bid to promote Britain as a destination for tech investment.

Britain and the United States had started talks on a post-Brexit bilateral free trade deal while former President Donald Trump was in office but failed to reach an accord before Joe Biden entered the White House in January.

"Truss will speak with leading Democrats and the tech industry about how a future UK-US free trade agreement can set gold-standard rules on digital trade," the international trade ministry said in a statement.

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Brexit chaos as Government holds crisis talks over shortage of truck drivers - Daily Express