24 hours of Brexit failures

Canada demanded terms for its beef farmers that we were not prepared to concede. This leaves us with an arrangement worse than the one we enjoyed as an EU member. British exporters will see tariffs of up to 245% imposed on cheese. They will also endure tariffs on cars. As Liz Truss (negotiator of the original deal) might say: “That is a disgrace.” But it’s one of our own making: we were never going to have the same clout as the EU going into negotiations. This could also throw a spanner in the works when it comes to ratifying Britain’s accession to the CPTPP, the Pacific trade bloc.

Incoming border checks were deemed to increase the cost of our imported food and drink by £200 million a year 

The checks will be implemented in three phases, beginning on 31 January 2024. Physical checks will kick in at the end of April, and security certificates on Halloween. An apt choice of date, given the frightening amounts of extra red tape involved. We can expect some producers to raise prices, and others to give up on the UK market. Gaps on shelves will become the new norm.

There were warnings that the new incoming border checks could lead to flower shortages in the run-up to Valentine’s Day 

According to Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, the process to import petunias has gone from 19 steps to 59. Earlier this month, the Dutch association of wholesalers in floricultural products expressed its significant concerns over potential disruption to trade on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. It remains to be seen whether Brexiters will attempt to spin the issue as a boon to chocolatiers.

The EU is setting up an Entry-Exit System that will collect biometrics from every passenger

Parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee was warned by expert witnesses that once the system goes live, queues at Dover could be 14 hours long. The knock-on effect such delays will have on businesses does not bear contemplating. Note that, although our pro-Brexit press has been full of vitriolic fury over the perceived unfairness of this imposition, the UK is preparing to roll out a very similar system of its own. Note too that EU citizens are exempt from the new continental rules, as we would be if we were still members. 

France’s Constitutional Council blocked a preferential visa clause in a new French immigration bill

The clause in question would have allowed British owners of second homes in France to stay for longer than 90 days out of every 180. Instead, they will remain subject to the same post-Brexit regime as any other UK visitor. This decision appears irrevocable, as appeals aren’t allowed.

Health sector professionals warned that the EU is planning to bulk buy key medicines and establish a shared stockpile for its 27 members 

It will also facilitate transfers of existing medicine stocks between EU states. The European Medicines Agency, which used to be headquartered in London before Brexit forced it to move, is spearheading the measures. The risk is that these actions will exacerbate existing shortages in the UK. Once again, we bump up against the immovable fact that Britain has no hope of matching the EU’s buying power.

Rishi Sunak’s pledge that all new laws will be screened to ensure they do not create trade barriers in the Irish Sea is causing ructions 

Jim Allister, the prominent Northern Irish unionist, stated that it “would make a nonsense of Brexit as the whole of the UK would be tied to things and institutions which they thought they had left”. Many Tory MPs were similarly agitated. Their circular firing squad seems unlikely to lower weapons any time soon.

This all happened in a single 24 hour period. Maybe tomorrow will bring a brief respite from the avalanche of bad news. Or maybe it will hit us with renewed vigour. Regardless, we will never be free of Brexit chaos until we come to our senses and plead with the EU to be readmitted, on the best terms they are willing to extend a troublemaker like us.

Edwin Hayward is author of “Slaying Brexit Unicorns”