Andrea Leadsom: Brexit checks are the price of
‘being a sovereign state again’
Health minister and Brexiter says businesses
experiencing ‘some friction’ should adapt to changes in trade rules
Aletha Adu
Political correspondent
@alethaadu
Wed 31 Jan
2024 18.21 GMT
A minister
has told British businesses that “some friction” when trading with the EU after
Brexit is the price to pay for being a sovereign state again.
On the
fourth anniversary of Britain officially leaving the EU, Andrea Leadsom said UK
firms should “adapt” to the change in trade rules, after new checks were
brought in on food, drink and some agricultural products, suggesting they
should not buy goods from Europe.
When asked
what the successes of Brexit were, Leadsom, a health minister and fierce
Brexiter, told Nick Ferrari on LBC: “I’m hugely delighted at Brexit. We have
our sovereignty back, we’re in control of our money, laws and borders. The NHS
has considerably more than £350m a week and we’ve signed up to 70 trade deals.”
But after
hearing of the difficulties a British florist faced when trying to import
flowers from the Netherlands because of the additional checks, Leadsom told Sky
News: “Leaving the single market was always going to have implications … I’m
just saying that businesses need to adapt to meet the changing environment.
“I can
certainly remember as business secretary myself back in 2019, every day meeting
with businesses, roundtables, to help them to prepare for us actually leaving
the European Union and to understand the additional checks that would be
required.
“So
businesses are used to the costs of doing business. I understand that today is
a big news story because it is something that finally has come home to roost.
But the fact of the matter remains that businesses have huge opportunities with
other parts of the world which are the direct benefit of us leaving the
European Union.”
Speaking
about trading relations, the minister told Times Radio: “What that does mean is
that there is some friction in trade. However, we also have huge trading
arrangements with other countries around the world … so there is a huge new
opportunity for the UK at the same time as continuing to trade, albeit with
some friction, which is the price you pay for leaving the single market and for
being a sovereign state again.”
On the eve
of the new arrangements coming into force, the Commons environment, food and
rural affairs committee wrote to the environment secretary, Steve Barclay,
expressing concerns over the new post-Brexit checks.
The
committee chair said: “We remain concerned about the location of the physical
checks that will be undertaken for commercial loads,” adding that it posed
“potentially serious biosecurity risks” to the UK.
Goods from
Britain have faced similar controls from the EU since it left the bloc’s single
market at the start of 2021, but the UK has repeatedly put off checks in the
other direction.
Ministers
have sought to allay concerns as the new post-Brexit checks on food and drink
imports come into force.
The
long-delayed rules are part of the UK government’s introduction of a series of
checks this year.
Fears have
been expressed about disruption to supply chains, with MPs also warning that
the new border regime could present “serious biosecurity risks” to the UK.
The home
secretary, James Cleverly, played down the concerns, saying there would be “no
interruption” to food on supermarket shelves as a result of the new rules.
Noting the
anniversary of Britain’s official departure, a leading French MEP said “nothing
has been a success” since.
Valérie
Hayer, the president of the Renew Europe group in the European parliament,
wrote: “All the polls since show the drama created by Brexit.
“Purchasing
power, social security, global influence, border protection: nothing,
absolutely nothing, has been a success.
“The
populists lied to the British.”
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