The council owner of one of England s biggest ports has warned ministers it will no longer be able to build vital customs infrastructure to support post Brexit trade because the government has only stumped up two thirds of the cash required.
Port owners including Portsmouth City Council, which owns Portsmouth International Port, have been left disappointed after their bids into the government’s £450m Port Infrastructure Fund came up a third short of expectations. The council has warned the lack of required infrastructure at the second busiest cross channel port in England could have potentially dire consequences for the future smooth flow of the trade of foodstuffs after Brexit.
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The report says that key decisions on border operations had been taken ‘very late’ (Reuters)
Government delay in preparing Britain for the transition to Brexit risks “the worst possible start” to the new year for UK businesses and citizens, a House of Commons report has warned.
With just seven working days left until the UK leaves the EU’s single market and customs union, there are “significant concerns” about how border arrangements will work, said the report by a cross-party committee of MPs.
With no certainty over whether the UK will strike a free trade agreement with Brussels in the final days of 2020, the Committee on the Future Relationship with the EU warned of traffic disruption at ports, more red tape and extra costs for business.
London Correspondent
A British parliamentary committee has called for the UK government to produce robust contingency plans to cope with disruption caused leaving the EU single market and customs union on 1 January.
The cross-party Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union warns of a potentially challenging start to 2021 as businesses, traders and citizens adjust to life outside the single market and customs union.
It is concerned that there will be traffic disruption around ports, trucks will not have the right paperwork, and the UK s national security could be weakened by the loss of access to EU crimefighting databases.
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Updated: 22:57, 17 December 2020
Port bosses have criticised the Government for giving a tiny fraction of the money it wanted for more French passport controls.
The Port of Dover asked for £33 million but only now it has been offered 0.1% of that (£33,000).
The authority at Dover port says it only got a tiny Government sum
This is for after Brexit for Anglo-French dual border controls under the Le Touquet Treaty.
The Transition Period ends in less that two weeks and the port authority stresses that the clock is ticking.
A Port spokesman said: At the 11th hour the Port has only been offered just one 10th of 1% of what was needed.