Thread by @adampayne26

An eye-watering stat to accompany HMG's border plans as Gove speaks

Government expects around 400 mill additional customs declarations a yr as of 2021 (imports & exports)

Ex-HMRC head Jon Thompson in 2018 estimated that a single declaration would have an average cost of £32.50

And some more info on the government's border plans, which have just been published:

- Gov expects to build 10-12 inland customs clearance sites (including several in Kent)

- It accepts there'll likely be traffic disruption in Jan due to lorries not having correct paperwork

Reeves quotes Truss' letter to Gove

- Gove says government is "absolute certain" that UK plans are WTO compliant having had legal advice

- He contradicts Truss and says government doesn't plan to apply the EU tariff in NI as a default: "No it is not"

Here's what Truss said...

Tory MP Alexander Stafford asks Gove whether we should hear less "scaremongering and doing down of the country"

A spectacularly-banal contribution and huge waste of time

These details are crucial for businesses

Alliance's @StephenFarryMP points out that Northern Ireland doesn't have "the luxury" of checks being phased in over time and says NI biz need details ASAP to prepare for Jan

Gove says "more detail will be published later this month" but no commitment to full guidance in July

More details from the FT:

British businesses are expected to face 215 million additional import and export declarations a year from 2021, with EU businesses set to face the same number, creating a projected total of around 430 million new declarations ft.com/content/fbc6f1…