Humanitarian aid stymied by Brexit rules

More than two months after the United Kingdom finally left the European Union, unforeseen effects of the move are still coming to light.

Amid the ongoing high profile wrangling over the Irish border and fish exports, there are other, less prominent, issues being played out.

Perth charity worker Suzanne Milne is a perfect case in point.

Her mission to bring vital clothing and supplies to refugees in Greece could be stymied by the high cost of transportation to the European mainland.

Officials have not been able to tell her how much it will cost to take a lorry-load of goods across the recently-created border.

An unexpectedly high and prohibitive amount could hit the charity hard.

The organisation which Suzanne works with helps some of the most desperate and vulnerable people on the planet.

Whatever their reasons for leaving their homes, they are now in dire straits and rely on aid from across the world. That a third of them are children adds to the tragedy.

While every eventuality could not be considered when drafting the Brexit deal, there should be scope now to visit such humanitarian cases and either make exceptions to the rules or create new ones to remove aid-package blockages.

Whatever Brexit was for, it surely not this. was

Kenneth Baxter supplied the photograph on the right and says: “The image was taken in 1922 in King William IV Dock, Dundee. Several railway wagons can be seen on the railway track that ran along Dock Street.

“This line was part of a large system of railway tracks that served the docks and allowed goods traffic to travel from the harbour to the main railway network. In the 1960s, King William IV Dock was filled in during the construction of the Tay Road Bridge and its approach roads.

“Several of the Dock Street buildings that are visible in the picture still survive today, including the old Labour Exchange on the corner of Gellatly Street which can be seen at the right of the photograph. However, the buildings that can be seen here between Commercial Street and Gellatly Street have long been demolished.”