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Virus = paralysis of Brexit planning.
Industry meetings across Whitehall have been cancelled, and there& #39;s growing sense delay is inevitable 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/where-s-brexit-canceled-whitehall-meetings-say-delay-inevitable">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...
Industry meetings across Whitehall have been cancelled, and there& #39;s growing sense delay is inevitable 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/where-s-brexit-canceled-whitehall-meetings-say-delay-inevitable">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...
“There’s absolutely no bandwidth for anything other than Covid-19,” said @BastidonPauline at the Freight Transport Association, who had 4 Brexit meetings cancelled in the second half of March.
“There’s no time, energy, money or interest at the moment to focus on Brexit.” 2/
“There’s no time, energy, money or interest at the moment to focus on Brexit.” 2/
Industry increasingly sees extension to the transition period as highly likely.
It& #39;s not about if, but how Johnson sells it to the public 3/
It& #39;s not about if, but how Johnson sells it to the public 3/
One theory is Johnson will wait until closer to June - the legal cut-off for seeking delay - and then announce strictly time-limited extension that matches amount of time lost to virus disruption 4/
Time matters because coronavirus-hit firms need to ready for trade barriers when leaving the EU& #39;s single market and customs union.
There& #39;s new customs paperwork and IT systems to install if things are to run smoothly on Jan 1. 2021 5/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-10/u-k-s-gove-warns-industry-to-brace-for-strict-border-controls">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...
There& #39;s new customs paperwork and IT systems to install if things are to run smoothly on Jan 1. 2021 5/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-10/u-k-s-gove-warns-industry-to-brace-for-strict-border-controls">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...
The U.K. gov itself needs to build fresh infrastructure at ports to cope with new checks on UK-EU trade.
“Those were huge projects before the pandemic,” said @BobSanguinetti. “Day by day, it& #39;s increasingly difficult to see how the original time-lines can be achieved.” 6/
“Those were huge projects before the pandemic,” said @BobSanguinetti. “Day by day, it& #39;s increasingly difficult to see how the original time-lines can be achieved.” 6/
This is all while civil servants have been re-deployed en-masse to virus efforts.
“Brexit planning has fallen off a cliff,” said Peter Hardwick at the British Meat Processors Association. “All operational staff at DEFRA have been diverted to Covid-19 work.” 7/
“Brexit planning has fallen off a cliff,” said Peter Hardwick at the British Meat Processors Association. “All operational staff at DEFRA have been diverted to Covid-19 work.” 7/
So watch this space.
No reason for the government to say anything on Brexit for now, but as we get closer to the end of June... ends/
No reason for the government to say anything on Brexit for now, but as we get closer to the end of June... ends/
