‘People voted for this?’ Graph of Brexit trade makes grim viewing

Businesses have slammed post-Brexit trading rules, reported The Guardian.

One described life outside the trading bloc as “the same nightmare week after week”.

It comes as Natalie Elphicke was fuming about the traffic queues in Dover but didn’t seem to think Brexit had anything to do with it.

This week I called for action to be taken on Dover’s roads.

Dover is becoming almost as famous for its traffic jams as for its White Cliffs, as reported in the Dover Express. pic.twitter.com/Clj6IkXu4t

— Natalie Elphicke MP (@NatalieElphicke) May 29, 2022

Now the Government has been using some of its post-Brexit freedoms” to hire airport staff quickly. 

It comes amid severe delays across UK airports ahead of the Platinum Jubilee weekend and the half-term holidays. 

Arts minister Lord Parkinson acknowledged that cancelled flights and long queues at UK airports are “causing a lot of distress for people, particularly in half-term”.

He continued: “We’ve been using some of our post-Brexit freedoms to make sure that people can be hired more quickly, but this is something the industry… some of the regulations can be met, but be met speedily, but we’ve been saying to the industry for quite some time, they should have been preparing for this.

Red tape

Returning to exporting trade issues Mark Brearley, who runs Kaymet, which makes tea trolleys and other kitchen equipment, said both the cost and red tape involved in the exporting of goods to the EU has increased.

He said that a large proportion of his time is spent with “things going wrong” and that the EU feels like “the hardest place in the world to ship things to sometimes.”

Official figures show that UK exports to the EU remain significantly below pre-Brexit levels, despite some recovery from an initial plunge in January 2021 at the end of the transition period.

Some sectors have suffered a more dramatic hit than others. Exports of clothing and footwear to the EU are both down by almost 60% compared with 2018. Meat exports have plunged by almost 25%, vegetables and fruit by 40%, while car exports are down by more than a quarter.

This map from the article has gone viral on social media, showing how UK exporters have fallen behind global competitors since Brexit.

#Brexit, in a nutshell: pic.twitter.com/zQbZkGpk0M

— Dr Mark Twitchett 🔶 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@Mark_Twitchett) May 30, 2022

Reaction

1.

Oh good Lord, people voted for this? https://t.co/vBKOTVE672

— Mark Dickinson (@Dicko60) May 31, 2022

2.

Daily evidence at this stage for the Brexit zealots, that Brexit makes us poorer!@AdamPosen https://t.co/kGdG7Q5VGe

— Damian McGenity (@damian_mcgenity) May 31, 2022

3.

For those who need a diagram … https://t.co/fsSDjQVVj4

— Graham Simmons (@grahamjsimmons) May 31, 2022

4.

Wait til they add imperial measure to it.

There is no face saving for Brexit Britain.

Arrogant National Pride is replaced with World Beating National Embarrassing Humiliation. https://t.co/25NPdmN0DA

— Lady Jasmine the European Cat (@JeanneBartram) May 31, 2022

5.

Still Labour's policy is "we must make Brexit work"
If the Tory's can't make it work neither will Labour.
Time for some honesty from @Keir_Starmer @UKLabour https://t.co/wHIQvu1LdJ

— Paul Allen #RejoinEU-ASAP (@PaulAllenSK1) May 31, 2022

Related: Watch: Minister appears to claim travel chaos is a Brexit win