New: Michael Gove tells business leaders that Brexit is like buying a house, with upfront costs but long-term opportunities. The call left industry feeling underwhelmed.. 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
In a call lasting only about 20 minutes, Gove and Johnson repeated the message to business about needing to prepare for Brexit, trade deal or not. In either scenario, many of the preparations are the same 2/
They took 3 questions on the call - from @cbicarolyn, @MikeCherryFSB and @RHARichardB. Other participants were a bit miffed at the limited engagement 3/
They can't claim to have had a dialogue with business, one person on the call said. It also felt like the start of a blame game, where the finger will be pointed at companies if things go wrong on Jan 1 for not having done enough, the person said 4/
Another disgruntled business leader said it's still ridiculous that companies don't know for certain what their trading terms will be with the EU in just 10 weeks time 5/
Scoop: Tesla and Heinz are among the household names facing a Brexit crisis at year-end due to a shortage of customs agents in the U.K. 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Both companies have struggled to find contractors who can process their post-Brexit paperwork, with the economy facing hundreds of millions of extra customs declarations annually 2/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Without a solution, they won't be able to legally move goods between Britain and the EU from 2021, even if there's a free-trade deal. Here's Heinz's statement 3/
Though it was previously called `Smart Freight', it's essentially an honesty system. Drivers just self-declare that they have the right paperwork to enter the EU, and they get a permit to enter Kent 3/
The U.K. has turned down the EU's latest effort to re-start the Brexit trade talks, saying it still needs to see a `fundamental change of approach'.. 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/… w/ @IanWishart
Earlier, Michel Barnier said he's ready to work intensely and on the basis of legal texts, which appeared to be the U.K.'s primary complaint 2/
But that's not been enough. So... what does the U.K. want to see now? Presumably an explicit EU move on an issue of substance, such as fisheries or the level playing field. The talks/not-quite-talks continue... ends/
Key points from Frost/Gove session with the Lords, as the UK threatens to walk from Brexit talks next week... 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Frost talked tough on the Oct 15 deadline, but hinted talks could go on beyond then even if there's no free-trade deal to be signed. `Our door would never be closed. There are a lot of practical matters that we would need to cover' 2/
Frost said they're `some way from a deal' (🚨) on state aid, one of the key sticking points in the talks. It all comes down to how much constraint the UK is willing to tolerate on its subsidy policies - Johnson will have to make a call here 3/
Scoop: Michael Gove has written to the U.K. border industry warning of 7,000-truck-long queues in a reasonable worst-case Brexit scenario 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The letter has further stark warnings:
- Flow of freight down 60%-80% between Dover-Calais
- Up to 70% of trucks not ready for EU border checks
Worrying stuff for the end of the transition period 2/