Robert Peston at ITV (HERE) had a bit of a shock the other night when an unnamed minister rang him to tell him that the European Commission had decided that in the event of no-deal the ports of Dover and Folkestone would be kept open “for nine months with no checks”. The minister had apparently been given the welcome news in an internal departmental briefing. Amazingly he believed it too!
The minister according to Peston, is 'respected and experienced' but whoever briefed him or her (or perhaps the briefer is being blamed for the minister's own lack of understanding), got confused about the EU proposing a nine month extension for hauliers. Here is the paragraph from the EU's contingency planning notice:
"A proposal for a Regulationvii to allow temporarily, for 9 months, access for road haulage operators licenced in the United Kingdom to the carriage of goods by road between the territory of the latter and the EU27 Member States".
The minister apparently seriously thought this meant that in the event of no deal, Dover and Folkestone would be 'kept open' providing what is otherwise known as frictionless trade. Needless to say when Peston checked with the EU they confirmed the haulage concession only involved commercial vehicles which had managed to get through all the customs and border formalities.
We ought to be stunned that a person who has risen to the level of government minister does not understand a straightforward communication from another government. This was 100% clear from first reading as even I understood HERE.
The key section is on page 7 and is unequivocal:
"If the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified, all relevant EU legislation on imported goods and exported goods will apply as of the withdrawal date. This includes the levying of duties and taxes and the respect of the formalities and controls required by the current legal framework, in order to ensure a level playing field"
The nation that produced Newton and Darwin is reduced to employing ministers who are incapable of understanding plain English. After Brexit (if there ever is an after Brexit) these are the sort of simple-minded, intellectually underpowered people who will be in sole and unrestrained charge of the country.
God help us all.
