Thread by @nickgutteridge

Liam Smyth, from the British Chambers of Commerce, tells a Commons International Trade Committee about the Brexit deal: 'We're becoming increasingly aware of businesses that are simply turning away from international trade. We worry the pace of this is going to accelerate.'

Fergus McReynolds, from manufacturing industry representatives Make UK, says 'there's a lot we can do under the structures of the TCA to improve' the situation regarding barriers to trade. He adds: 'Our priority is making sure those supply chains thrive in the new relationship.'

Liam Smyth says firms are seeing a 'significant increase' in costs of moving freight and from extra paperwork. 'A factor is the availability of drivers prepared to come from the EU to drop a load in the UK, then take another load back. Empty trucks tell you they're not happy.'

Long queues are a problem because many truckers are paid by km travelled, not by the hour. 'When they were standing stationary...they weren't earning. They got their fingers burnt and they're determined not to get burnt again. The impact of that is higher cost of moving freight.'

Fergus McReynolds says firms trading with the EU face a complex scenario on VAT: 'The Single Market looks very much like a Single Market from the inside, but it doesn't look like a Single Market from the outside because each individual country has their own set of rules on tax.'