A telling admission on Brexit’s bureaucratic downsides

BREXITERS told us that we must leave the EU so we could “take back control of our borders”.

A claim that the Brexit Opportunities Minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg must have forgotten last week when he announced that the UK was delaying introducing customs checks for goods coming into the UK from the EU for the fourth time.

Incredibly he admitted that to introduce the checks “would have been an act of self-harm”.

He even had the audacity to claim he was saving British business £1bn by not introducing the checks which are only necessary because of Brexit. He has finally given the game away, far from bringing economic benefits Brexit is an “act of self-harm”.

As a result, the British Ports Association is now threatening legal action against the Government for the costs of building customs infrastructure and hiring staff to be ready for the July 1 introduction and the British Veterinary Association has warned that failure to introduce checks puts the UK at risk of importing animal diseases such as African Swine Fever.

Most serious is the disadvantage that British businesses that export to the EU are being placed under. The EU introduced the customs checks immediately the UK left the EU and British exporters are faced with the normal “red tape” that exists at any border between the EU and a third country, whilst goods coming in from the EU are just waved through without the additional costs. Mr ReesMogg claims that a new regime of border controls will be in place by the end of 2023 and that the border will be the “world’s best border” (obviously). But don’t hold your breath, this new regime sounds like the promise of the “technical solutions” for the border on Ireland that didn’t exist and still don’t.

From: Jas Olak, Vice Chair, Leeds for Europe, Roundhay.

WAS Tony Galbraith taking or faking offence at what European Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness had to say about the bloc’s “overreliance” on both Russian energy and UK financial services?

Having read Ms McGuinness’s speech, I’m certain it’s the latter. Contrary to what Mr Galbraith suggests, there’s no comparison there between British banking and Russia’s horrific behaviour in Ukraine. Only Mr Galbraith is creating that bizarre link.

Ms McGuinness simply makes the point that the EU will have to move away from British banking – “in the medium term” – so it can regulate the sector’s activities within its own borders.