Your sandwiches safe in my hands ...
Dominic Raab provided an assurance this week, there would be no sandwich crisis in the event of a hard Brexit.
"So let me reassure you all that, contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit. There are no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies."
Stories had been circulating in Westminster, the government planned a three month stock pile of "Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato" sandwiches delivered to Sainsbury's by the SAS if need in the event of a food crisis.
With 10,000 lorries per day delivering food from the EU to the UK some concern was inevitable. Dominic Rabb, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU had the thankless job of addressing concerns about a hard Brexit. The Government released this week the first batch of "What would happen under a hard Brexit" papers. Twenty Five of a planned eighty two in fact. It made for some difficult reading.
It now seems clear in the event of a hard Brexit, we will lose all control of regulation and product standards. Business will be tied up in the red tape and administration, we had clearly sought to avoid by leaving the EU. The Government told companies to “consider how they will submit customs declarations in the future. They should engage the services of a customs broker, freight forwarder or logistics provider to help, or alternatively secure the appropriate software and authorizations” to assist. As for standards and regulation ...
The UK would take "unilateral action" to "maintain as much continuity as possible". "We will accept the testing and safety approvals of existing medicines if they're carried out by an EU member state". We will hope the EU would do the same for us.
The UK will unilaterally recognise EU food standards and pursue equivalency arrangements on food regulation. We hope the EU will do the same for us. Defra minister George Eustice told a Lords committee his department would implement a 'mutual recognition' regime, which amounts to assuming food from the EU was safe to eat, hoping they will do the same for us. Really?
Transport secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC in March that "we will not impose checks" at the port of Dover. Let 'em drive through with illegal immigrants clinging to the differential axis presumably.
In further bad news, UK expats were warned they may not be able to access pension payments or bank accounts for that matter in EU countries. Banks were advised to open offices in Dublin or along the Danube if things get tough. Car manufacturers will be advised to relocate within the customs union as a next step.
"Britain : A 21st Century Exporting Superpower"
Liam Fox, declared this week, Britain can become a 21st Century Exporting Superpower following Brexit. Exports can be boosted to 35% of GDP if only 400,000 businesses would begin to export or export more. It isn't really clear how things will be so much easier once out of the EU.
German exports to the BRIC countries, China, India, Russia and Brazil were over four times higher than that of the UK last year. German exports to China were valued at almost $100 billion dollars compared to
less than $25 billion for the UK. Exports to the USA were over twice the levels achieved by UK traders. It's all about capacity in the manufacturing sector. Capacity further inhibited outside of the customs union, especially in motor, aerospace and big pharma.
The clock is ticking. The difficulties are compounding. Time is running out. Taking back control, free from red tape and regulation may not be so easy after all.
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