Britain's exit from the European Union has so far made trade more expensive because of delays and red tape, and there could be border disruption as passenger numbers recover after the COVID pandemic, the Public Accounts Committee said today.
Supporters of Brexit said exiting would allow the United Kingdom the independence to escape what they cast as a stagnating German-dominated project that was falling far behind big powers such as the United States and China.
But opponents of Brexit cautioned that leaving the EU was akin to an act of self harm that would leave the United Kingdom diminished, poorer and more insular.
While trade was suppressed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other global supply constraints, parliament's Public Accounts Committee found that the "EU exit has had an impact, and that new border arrangements have added costs to business".
"One of the great promises of Brexit was freeing British businesses to give them the headroom to maximise their productivity and contribution to the economy," said Meg Hillier, chair of the committee. "Yet the only detectable impact so far is increased costs, paperwork and border delays."
The leaders of Brexit said that in the short term there could be additional costs as the United Kingdom adapted, but that in the long term there would be considerable political and economic benefits from leaving the bloc.
The Public Accounts Committee cautioned that the government had considerable work to do to make cross-border trade easier for businesses and that there were concerns about computer systems being developed by customs.
In November, Britain became the last Group of Seven developed nation to see its goods exports surpass their 2018 average level since the onset of the COVID-19, underlining its poor trade performance in international terms.
8 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Zoltan, BJ is lucky not got lucky. I think you are misinformed about the UK vaccination situation. Economists have in the past regarding UK frequently got it wrong, and there is no reason to say they have it right this time. As I said Rome was not built in a day. As a Russian said to me at the time of Perestroika, for us it is like being tied to a chair for 50 years then being let free to sprint a 100 yards, first we have to find our legs.
@ Nigel Johnson basically got lucky with the vaccines and once other countries got their hands on them they overtook the UK's vaccination program (like Spain for example) You obviously know something that the world's top economists don't as none of them thinks that Brexit is a good idea.
Fred it’s called democracy, it’s messy inconvenient and is annoying to those who think they know what’s best for the proles, for our own good of course. That’s why the Irish had to vote several times to get the correct outcome. Look at the previous alternates to the democratic systems none worked out that well did they. Zoltan Increased lower quartile salaries due to tight labour market. High levels of private investment in my area nearly 3billion in automotive, battery production and renewable energy with high paid jobs, As for world influence we’ve done that been there and are still paying to cost. Time for U.K. to settle and get on with our own thing
Britain isn't rome, and won't ever be. The empire is gone. It's not coming back. It's done. You lost. Get over it.
Well, Blue passports (which are actually nearly black, and could have been "blue" all along) and the bonfire of nonexistent EU kipper laws. It was all worth it, yeah?
Well Zoltan, take for example the vaccination rollout, the revised deaths by the ONS caused by Covid of 17,000, and the fact that the UK is basically "restriction free". The problems mentioned above are teething troubles, and will possibly last a few more years. Rome was not built in a day.
'in the long term there would be considerable political and economic benefits from leaving the bloc.' Like what?
Brexit was always going to be a disaster. The only people I know who voted for it are old and stupid and want the empire back. People of pensionable age should not have been allowed to vote on something that wont concern them for very long.