(Europe) –[Guardian] Britain’s foreign secretary said on Thursday that the United Kingdom will provide visas to European truck drivers, helping ease a shortage that costs the industry up to £1.5bn a year.

David Davis, at the Guardian debate in London, said that Britain would begin to grant access to truck drivers from the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association from 2021, after the Prime Minister had delayed the decision following the vote to leave the EU.

He said: “The EU has a scheme for visas for truck drivers. Why don’t we do the same for Europeans that come here?”

While the suggestion of introducing visas on trucks has been welcomed by the trucking industry, the dispute over road pricing remains unresolved.

The Department for Transport insisted that no decision had been made on road pricing despite the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, saying last week that the government was considering “rebalancing” the charging system to raise money from the fastest moving routes.