The Reality of Tory Brexit, SNP Candidate Response.
26/01/24
As the cost of living crisis continues, food prices look set to rise once more because of Brexit. Sectors of UK business are also under threat with further red tape to overcome and higher costs – as much as £330 million per annum, a figure widely reported since last year.
Although the UK formally left the EU more than three years ago, implementation of new customs checks on imports of animal and plant products has been postponed five times because of the potential delays at ports and the expected impact on shoppers’ food spend.
The Conservative Party won the 2019 general election with the slogan Get Brexit Done but they clearly didn’t get it done and now yet more damaging effects will be felt across Scotland including here in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.
The new customs checks will be phased in from 31 January when EU exporters need to provide export health certificates with their goods. Physical checks then begin from 30 April; safety and security certificates will be required from 31 October.
What it all adds up to is higher food prices and big queues at the Channel ports.
There are concerns that the new UK government Border Target Operating Model is not ready, smaller EU exporters are not ready and the inevitable delays caused by checks may see significant losses for business. Local media in Kent has already raised the possibility of 14-hour queues at Dover – flagged up by Ashford Borough Council – and chaos on local roads.
The Conservatives are not listening to business and not learning from past scenes of disruption. In April last year, the director of food and sustainability for the British Retail Consortium, Andrew Opie, made clear it was imperative that the UK government stepped up its engagement with retailers and their European suppliers to avoid problems.
This has clearly not taken place with any acceptable degree of success.
Scotland did not vote to leave the EU in the first place, Brexit did not have to be executed in the extreme manner it was done by Boris Johnson and it is remarkable that nearly eight years since the Brexit referendum and more than three years since we left the EU, the consequences are still playing out and making us poorer.