on a clear
day philippe cosette can see the famed
cliffs of dover from his hometown of
calais france
he muses how the water in between used
to be a wall
the sea separated us
until the human drive to unite
outmaneuvered mother nature
that historic day december 1st 1990
the last barrier between the two sides
crumbled
philippe cosette and his british
counterpart graham
fagg linked hands and lands
[Music]
the two tunnelers had been chosen by
lottery for the honor
cozette remembers the moment vividly
i was there we were on hold until 12
o'clock
exactly 12 hours 12 minutes
12 seconds exactly
six years in construction the tunnel
under the english
channel was a feat of engineering and
partnership
cementing the uk european union bond
personified by the two happy men in hard
hats
this is a remarkable image of graham and
me
memories and a memorial in calais to the
workers who forged
this connection physically and created
we don't have the same way of looking at
things the french and the english
but we learned after so much
effort to come together work together
and live together
who could have imagined just three
decades later
the breach that is brexit
[Applause]
now four and a half years after that
vote even many of those who actively
campaigned
to remain are ready to move on
people like paul bartlett deputy council
leader in the city of ashford
just half an hour inland from dover the
result was a disappointment but
obviously
we as politicians local politicians have
to embrace the result
and what the council has done locally is
to ensure that the
impact of brexit is minimized completely
or as far as possible on residents and
businesses so that they can continue
their
their lives as if brexit didn't happen
that might be hard with the potential
backup of traffic in his own
neighborhood
brought on by extra bureaucracy required
for delivery trucks with the uk
out of the eu single market but bartlett
says
he expects things will work out i am sad
that we've left the eu
but equally we haven't left europe
we'll be working together both with
france and with the wider eu
community and we're all in this together
but not together like the period
philippe cosette calls the highlight of
his career
when both sides were blasting through
obstacles to meet in the middle
coset says he respects the british
decision
the future will tell you if they were
right or wrong
they will certainly notice it quickly
enough and at that point
maybe they'll change their minds
cozette admits he hopes uk citizens will
want to rejoin the eu
he says the path he helped build will
always be there for them
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