£705m bill for new post-Brexit borders

THE UK will spend more than £700million to set up a new Brexit bureaucracy on the borders by January.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove yesterday defended plans for new post-Brexit border infrastructure after Labour said the Government was unprepared.

A £705million funding package was announced following a leaked letter from International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, which raised concerns about the readiness of Britain’s ports.

Under the plans, new border posts will be created inland where ports have no room to expand to cope with the extra checks that will be required. Gove insisted the Government had been “laying the groundwork for months”.

He said: “With or without further agreement with the EU, this £705million will ensure that the necessary infrastructure, tech and border personnel are in place so that our traders and the border industry are able to manage the changes and seize the opportunities as we lay the foundations for the world’s most effective and secure border.”

Britain and Brussels have passed the deadline to extend the Brexit transition period, meaning EU rules will end in the UK on December 31.

SNP Brexit spokeswoman Philippa Whitford said: “It’s clear Scotland is footing the bill for the mounting costs and red tape of a Tory Brexit we didn’t vote for.”

Former national security adviser Lord Ricketts tweeted: “It’s not clear to me how we will have ‘the world’s most effective and secure border’ when we will lose access to the Schengen Information System, which gives alerts on movement of criminals.”