Goods delays at ports can be avoided: Gove

There should be no significant delay to the flow of goods through ports after Brexit if “we all do the right thing”, Michael Gove has said.

The Cabinet minister in charge of no-deal planning visited Holyhead Port in North Wales yesterday to meet with organisations working on the trade route to Northern Ireland, Ireland and the rest of the world.

Mr Gove said that predictions of a threemonth “meltdown” at ports in the event of a nodeal Brexit, as revealed in the leaked Operation Yellowhammer documents, were “the absolute worst case”.

He said: “I’m confident that, if we all do the right thing, on October 31 we will be able to ensure that goods can flow in and out of ports like Holyhead without any significant delay.

“There are a number of scenarios, there is a worst case and we are trying very hard to reduce the risk of that worst case materialising.

“I think the steps that we’ve taken over the course of the last three weeks and more steps that we’ll be taking in the next few weeks and months will ensure that we reduce the risk even further.

“One of them is making sure that traders have all the information and the systems that they need in order to be able to export.”

Mr Gove was given a tour of the country’s second busiest port – which was being used by both freight vehicles and holidaymakers on their way to Dublin – and met with representatives who run organisations from there.

He also visited transportation company Gywnedd Shipping and met leaders of North Wales councils.

Picture: PA. Mr Gove, right, at Holyhead Port.