NEW/EXC: So how is the UK going to manage the 'full-fat' border after #Brexit without those 50,000 customs agents? Or building any customs sheds? The answer seems to be not have much of a border - at least temporarily. My latest with @GeorgeWParker /1
ft.com/content/37fad0…
ft.com/content/37fad0…
@GeorgeWParker You might remember back in February @michaelgove said he would introduce full fat border to keep borders safe, treat all trade equally, collect customs and impose reciprocal controls on goods from EU. Seems like reality has now kicked in/2
gov.uk/government/new…
gov.uk/government/new…
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove The combination of #coronavirusuk
sucking out bandwidth (and drug companies saying they can't rebuild medicines stockpile) has forced the UK to take "a pragmatic and flexible approach" - it was only a matter of time, I guess. /3
ft.com/content/4611bf…
sucking out bandwidth (and drug companies saying they can't rebuild medicines stockpile) has forced the UK to take "a pragmatic and flexible approach" - it was only a matter of time, I guess. /3
ft.com/content/4611bf…
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove This is a return to the border easements that were planned for the 2019 'no deals' - simplified/deferred customs, no BIPs, waiver on security declarations except for controlled goods...we await final details but I'm told it will look pretty similar /4
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove Of course the goods going the other way (UK to EU) will face checks on the EU side where they HAVE invested in customs officers and programmes like France's SI Brexit system...the UK will hope for reciprocal 'easements' but as @SamuelMarcLowe tells me, shouldn't bet on a lot. /5
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove @SamuelMarcLowe The new position, which looks like it will be announced tomorrow, will be welcomed by business, haulage etc - though they are not under-estimating the challenge of being ready for 200m new customs declarations as year.
But as @BCCAdam tells me the govt must "prioritise flow"/6
But as @BCCAdam tells me the govt must "prioritise flow"/6
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove @SamuelMarcLowe @BCCAdam So groups like the Road Haulage Association will give that a thumbs up, but as Richard Burnett @RHARichardB tells me the basic issues about UK preparedness still stand. It looks like more money will be available for training above £34m so far, which will be welcome. /7
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove @SamuelMarcLowe @BCCAdam @RHARichardB But if we're brutally honest about it, this asymmetrical relationship is not idea, nor is it stable and durable...as Shane Brennan @ColdChainShane tells me, it not great that the "only workable way to control our food imports post-Brexit will be to not control them." /8
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove @SamuelMarcLowe @BCCAdam @RHARichardB @ColdChainShane Of course, controls will come - these arrangements will only be termporary - and it is also true that the UK, when outside the EU doesn't for example need 'BIPs' or SPS controls right at the port/border. It can do things differently. And technology will change /9
@GeorgeWParker @michaelgove @SamuelMarcLowe @BCCAdam @RHARichardB @ColdChainShane But if you combine this decision with fact that UK is asking for accelerated talks with the EU (and read UK draft FTA and its clear they want a deal get Ro-Ro traffic moving, trucking permits recognised etc) and you could argue is speaks to pragmatism, after a lot of bluster ENDS
