Well, we have now been working with the post-Brexit Free Trade Agreement for 3 weeks and it has been far from smooth, however are the problems of the teething variety or more deep seated? From our own experience a bit of both I would say. Most of our traffic goes by, what are termed “Fast parcel carriers” UPS, DHL and Fedex and the main problems with them have been that their operators in other parts of the EU have just not been prepared for the new arrangements. Most are not used to dealing with the volume of non EU traffic and are unaware of the FTA leading to customers being charged ta ..read more

We are now outside the European Union and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is building momentum. There is a dire need for those in Government to begin focussing on our economic recovery after the pandemic and for our future beyond Brexit. We are currently presented with a unique opportunity for a fresh approach to our economy aimed at reinvigorating parts of the country which have sat stagnant for decades since we became a Member State of the European Union – and remember, this was not something we actually ever voted for! The Government has made all the ..read more

The UK-EU trade agreement baked in the EU’s trade surplus in goods, but gave us nothing in terms of services. We must avoid the same pitfall when it comes to the upcoming negotiations on financial services Despite being largely unloved by the general population, the UK’s financial sector contributes 7% (£126bn) to gross domestic product, employs 3.5% of the UK workforce, and generates 11% of total government tax revenue. The City of London is the predominant financial centre in Europe. It does six times more financial services business with the EU than the EU does with the UK. More financial s ..read more

The Level Playing Field (LPF) obligations contained in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) have drawn much attention for their supposed potential to tie the UK into the EU’s regulatory sphere on a permanent basis. But a close reading of these provisions and the rebalancing mechanism through which they can be enforced suggests otherwise. It is doubtful that these obligations will have much impact on the UK’s regulatory goals. By way of an overview, the TCA provides fairly standard ‘non-regression’ provisions, mandating that neither party can lower its labour, environment or state ai ..read more

Workers will welcome the trade deal the government struck with the EU. The agreement meets the fundamental criterion for an acceptable deal, it does not compromise the sovereignty of the UK. It is a testament to the clarity of British workers, their deep democratic underpinnings, moving swiftly from a divisive referendum to a unity of purpose to get Brexit done. The trade deal that has been agreed with the EU was the only possible outcome of the lengthy negotiations given that the UK had already left the EU and became sovereign. It would have been inconceivable if, having left the EU, we would ..read more

The Prime Minister has agreed to the negotiations continuing however for what purpose? He also says that a No Deal/Australia style deal is the most likely and I strongly believe that to be the best option in the long term. There will be disruption at the ports but this will be relatively short term, there is a very big world out there and many alternative sources of supply and indeed customers for our products if the EU decides to try and beat us into submission. Why there will be disruptions is because traders like me are unprepared, listening to some businessmen talking on BBC Radio 4 Any An ..read more

The EU’s “Level Playing Field” (LPF) has long been masked by a triple misnomer. In recent days it has finally come under a scrutiny that has been absurdly overdue.  The problems are fundamental and unresolvable. The LPF lowers competitiveness by levelling downwards, driven by the politics and costs of “ever closer union” rather than economics. With increasing centralisation, the Commission gains a self-serving bias against sharing power through new free trade bilaterals. And it has cemented the practice of regulatory overkill so that the implementing agency is itself incapable of critical ..read more

Deadlines have passed and negotiations stop and start but still we end up at the same sticking points of fish, level playing field and enforcement. One has to ask the question why it is necessary to have an overarching agreement that covers almost all aspects of the EU’s relationship with the UK. At this stage, even with Boris having worked his charms on Ursula, it would look as if we are not going to manage to bridge the gaps to conclude an overall agreement. I seek not to apportion blame but from a practical and pragmatic point of view there is much that has been agreed and it would seem ext ..read more

‘Will they, won’t they’ seem to be a constant theme in the long process of negotiating a trade deal with the EU. Apart from those who consider a no-deal outcome as the only guarantee of sovereignty, most people agree that the best outcome is a mutually beneficial trade deal which now seems to be firmly on the cards.  It took the EU a long time to treat the UK as an equal. A lot of time was wasted with the EU’s continued denial of the fact that the UK had left the EU and was independent. This is one reason why an agreement may not be reached much before the deadline of 31 December 2020. Th ..read more

We keep hearing rumours of a sellout by the UK Government to the EU. This of course has been the pattern over the last 50 years, hopefully those negotiating on our behalf are not going to fall into the same trap. The EU are desperate to maintain the same level of access to UK fisheries and though I would like a free trade agreement for my own selfish reasons it is far more important and essential that the UK regains full control of its coastal waters. If this means No Deal then so be it because after 31 December all EU rights to UK waters lapse so they will have lost everything and gained litt ..read more