• Contact
  • About
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
North East Bylines
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
  • Region
  • Opinion
AUDIO
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
  • Region
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
North East Bylines
Home News Brexit

The worst Christmas present ever?

Will the government listen to businesses and finally accept that trade with our European neighbours is essential to our economic success?

Joyce QuinbyJoyce Quin
23-03-2021 14:41 - Updated On 29-03-2022 16:17
in Brexit, Business, Co. Durham, Economy, European News, North East, Northumberland, Politics, Region, Teesside, Tyneside, UK, Wearside
Reading Time: 4 mins
A A
North Shields Fish Quay Photo by Roger Cornfoot licensed by creative commons

North Shields Fish Quay Photo by Roger Cornfoot licensed by creative commons

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The problems created by the Brexit deal for British exporters

Boris Johnson hailed his Brexit deal, announced on Christmas Eve, as “Glad Tidings” and went on to claim that it would allow companies “to do even more business with our European friends”.  He also claimed, astonishingly, that the deal would mean no non-tariff barriers.  Did the Prime Minister in claiming this know he was telling a lie or did he simply not understand the details of the deal to which he had put his signature? Whichever is the case there is no doubt that the reality of the deal for so many of our exporters, and for our economy in general, has proved a cruel deception, involving loss of orders, delays in delivering goods and extra costs which in some cases are proving prohibitive and are threatening the viability of the companies in question.

While there is dispute over the actual figures there is no doubt that there has been a dramatic reduction in Britain’s exports to the EU from 1 January onwards. It is small companies, who are trying to grow their export business, and the vital food and drinks sector of our economy which have been particularly hard hit. I will quote a couple of examples from my own part of the country which vividly illustrate the problems experienced.

Firstly the fisheries sector which was promised so much by the Prime Minister and the Brexiters. My local port of North Shields is England’s largest prawn exporting port, the main customers, accounting for the majority of the business, being France and Spain. In the past the prawns arrived in France from North Shields the following day guaranteeing their freshness. Now this takes three days which for a product with a fresh shelf life of five days is far from ideal. Because of the new system of export hubs the prawns actually travel north to Glasgow first and then begin the long journey to the south coast. The new paperwork (a non-tariff barrier for the Prime Minister’s information) is complex and if the goods are part of a larger consignment then they risk being held up  because of any mistake, even a minor one, by any other of the exporters in the group. On arrival at the port of entry in the EU costly customs procedures begin. The overall effect of the Brexit deal, if these problems are not dealt with, are threatening to any business’ survival in a competitive market.

The second example is that of a specialised brewery which has successfully built up an export market to the EU in recent years. Hit by Covid-19, the Brexit deal means that up to half of its remaining trade and income is in jeopardy. The products would normally arrive in the EU in five days. Indeed it was as easy to export to the EU as it was to send the product to anywhere in the UK. Yet in January, after the Brexit deal, its exports were held up for a month!  Once again increased red tape, delays and extra costs have all been incurred. Again too there is the problem of being part of a larger consignment where one incorrect form from one supplier can penalise everyone else. The real fear is that previously loyal EU customers will go elsewhere if orders can not be delivered within speedy and efficient timetables.

These two companies and others I know of have been advised to set up subsidiary companies or depots in France or another EU country to avoid such difficulties. So Brexit means more jobs in the EU rather than in the UK does it?!

The government seems to be in denial about these issues. They are not trivial, nor “teething” problems but highly damaging to our economy.  What folly to make life difficult in our nearest and biggest market.  How alarming too that the Foreign Secretary talks about prioritising  trade with countries elsewhere in the world and with poor human rights records rather than the established market on our doorstep which we helped to create and whose countries share democratic values with us.

Will the government listen to businesses in my part of the world and elsewhere in the UK, and finally see sense, change tack and accept once and for all that trade with our European friends and neighbours is essential to our future economic success and well-being?

Baroness Joyce Quin is a Vice-President of the European Movement, and a former MEP and Minister for Europe

Previous Post

A Watergate moment for Johnson?

Next Post

Getting old: the reality

Joyce Quin

Joyce Quin

Related Posts

Keir Starmer
Politics

Starmer’s message

byJohn Forth-Walker
December 3, 2023
global warming
Education

Climate education must extend beyond the classroom’s walls

byMeryl Batchelder
December 3, 2023
National Servicemen Michael Jamieson
History

Last of the National Servicemen Part 3: Sent to Coventry

byMichael Jamieson
December 2, 2023
curriculum for the North
Education

A new Curriculum for the North

byPeter Sagar
December 2, 2023
David Lammy
Brexit

Lammy’s mood music – sidestepping towards Rejoin?

byColin Gordon
December 2, 2023
Next Post
Photo by Claudia van Zyl from unsplash

Getting old: the reality

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

Subscribe to our newsletters
CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
Follow us on social media
CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
Download our app
ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
Subscribe to our gazette
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
Make a monthly or one-off donation
DONATE NOW
Help us with our hosting costs
SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
We are always looking for citizen journalists
WRITE FOR US
Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
VOLUNTEER FOR US
Something else?
GET IN TOUCH
Previous slide
Next slide

LATEST

Germany on the map of the world

German Journeys Part 11: The Goethe Institute

December 3, 2023
Keir Starmer

Starmer’s message

December 3, 2023
global warming

Climate education must extend beyond the classroom’s walls

December 3, 2023
National Servicemen Michael Jamieson

Last of the National Servicemen Part 3: Sent to Coventry

December 2, 2023
curriculum for the North

A new Curriculum for the North

December 2, 2023
David Lammy

Lammy’s mood music – sidestepping towards Rejoin?

December 2, 2023

MOST READ

Nestle Fawdon

New buyer for Fawdon Nestlé chocolate site

November 28, 2023
Photo by Fred Duval/Shutterstock.com (YW)

Cleverly and Stockton

November 27, 2023
David Lammy

Lammy’s mood music – sidestepping towards Rejoin?

December 2, 2023
Bollard in Geelong

What news from Geelong? The show goes on with Britishvolt

November 24, 2023 - Updated On November 27, 2023

BROWSE BY TAGS

Audio Beach Brexit Business castle leazes climate activism Co. Durham comedy cost of living crisis Culture defra democracy ducklings Economy Education Environment fire and rescue firefighter Food & Drink food poverty hardwick festival Health Health & Care Home Affairs just stop oil Lifestyle Local Lockdown Northumberland Peace peoples theatre Performance Politics pride month refugee rescue Science Teesside the good life TV & Radio Tynemouth Tyneside Ukraine volunteer Wearside

We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in the North East and beyond.

North East Bylines is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a partner organisation to Byline Times.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Authors
  • Complaints
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Letters
  • Privacy
  • Network Map
  • Network RSS Feeds
  • Submission Guidelines

© 2023 North East Bylines. Powerful Citizen Journalism

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • UK News
    • Transport
    • World News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Poetry
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Technology
    • Trade
  • Donate
  • Newsletter sign up
  • Boriiis Cartoons
  • Authors
  • Audio
CROWDFUNDER

© 2023 North East Bylines. Powerful Citizen Journalism

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In