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Dominic Raab making everything seem so simple writing in the Telegraph.
On Tuesday the Cabinet stepped up preparations to leave the EU on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms. That will strengthen the Prime Minister’s final efforts to salvage her Brexit deal, and mitigate the risks in case they fail. With 100 days until Brexit, we need a clear-sighted appraisal of those risks, and stronger ministerial grip to manage them and reassure the country. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has instituted full ‘no deal’ planning in the NHS. That includes working with pharmaceutical companies so they can stockpile medicines that might be affected by any delays at Calais. The NHS already coordinates with pharmaceutical businesses to keep 12-week stockpiles of hundreds of medicines and vaccines, so this work is familiar. Many firms are ahead of the game. The UK’s largest insulin supplier, French firm Sanofi, started building up a 14-week supply in early August.
The Government should now focus on three top priorities. First, managing the risk that EU border checks add costs to UK businesses. The UK will adopt a ‘continuity’ approach, recognising EU regulatory standards on day 1 of Brexit, and taking an intelligence-led approach to enforcement rather than checking every truck from Europe. Likewise, on exit, UK goods will comply with EU standards. Xavier Bertrand, President of the northern region of France, has said that the Calais authorities would facilitate the flow of lorries arriving from the UK. French officials say checks would take 2 minutes per lorry, not 10 minutes as Whitehall planners (inexplicably) assume.
If President Macron sought to choke the flow of UK goods entering via Calais, ports like Zeebrugge and Rotterdam would hoover up the business. Ministers need to work with operators and port authorities, so we have capacity to divert supply routes via Belgium and the Netherlands as swiftly as possible. Second, we need interim tariff liberalisation to protect UK consumers, if the EU applies tariffs on UK exports, and take immediate advantage of the opportunity to reduce the price of goods from the rest of the world. This should take into account the impact on the most sensitive UK sectors – including farmers – whilst sending the strongest message that global Britain is open for business. It would also provide a springboard to the free trade deals the UK will pursue from Asia to Latin America – to create the jobs of the future, and ease the cost of living at home. Third, the Treasury must prepare a Brexit budget to identify businesses – including ‘just in time’ manufacturers – most at risk from a departure on WTO terms. We should cut business taxes to boost them as they transition, and offset the cost from the £39 billion the UK would have paid the EU.
In some areas, we need EU cooperation. The European Commission has agreed to cooperate on aviation to ensure flights run between the UK and EU, and the Bank of England and European Central Bank are working together on financial risks. But, Commission Secretary General Martin Selmayr has refused wider collaboration. If this continues, we should be clear with UK and EU citizens that this is a deliberate choice made by Brussels.
