Brexit was hailed by its supporters as an opportunity for Britain to go out and into the world. But six years on from the EU referendum, are we making the most of Britain’s departure from the EU?
Not so, according to Conor Burns, Minister of State in the Department for International Trade. Burns says that, as an early supporter of Brexit, dating back to when he read the Maastricht Treaty as a student, he relished the opportunities that leaving the EU would offer in doing things ‘differently’. Sadly, he says, there has been a ‘failure’ to capitalise on these.
Even Brexit’s firmest supporters admit there has been turbulence. Since Britain’s departure from the EU there has been a marked decline in UK exports to Europe: in the first six months of 2021, these fell by 15.6 per cent, or £12.4 billion. ‘The figures on exports are really depressing,’ admits Burns, who was speaking at a Spectator fringe event at Tory party conference in Birmingham.
The IEA’s Annabel Denham, who was also on the panel alongside The Spectator‘s editor Fraser Nelson and Tory MP Mark Garnier, shared this sense of disappointment. ‘It is immensely frustrating that Brexit provided us this opportunity to finally ignite the red tape’ but that this has not been taken up, she says.
Trade is really one of the places where we can seize the benefits of Brexit, Burns says. By ‘unblocking the arteries’ and allowing goods to flow more easily across the border, it’s a win-win for businesses and consumers. One of those businesses that exports a lot to Europe is Amazon, which sponsored the event. Its UK boss John Boumphrey points out that a significant chunk of its business revenue – around half – comes from small businesses that operate on its platform and use its distribution infrastructure to fulfil deliveries.
‘As a big business’, he says, ‘we are relatively well equipped to deal with friction (in terms of paperwork at borders)’. But an audience member whose family sells camping gear through Amazon suggests that Brexit has still made life harder. His company used to sell lots of equipment to campers in Germany. Now the amount of paperwork means it isn’t worth the hassle.
Jacob Rees-Mogg says in his previous job as Minister for Brexit opportunities one of his aims was to ‘significantly reduce’ the amount of forms that need filling in by those seeking to export goods. But clearly there is still plenty of work to be done.
If Brexit hasn’t been plain sailing, there is still cause for optimism, says Rees-Mogg. The business secretary is optimistic that Britain’s departure from the EU will ultimately help businesses and free up trade, not least in helping to cut red tape. The government is currently working through thousands of EU regulations left over from when Britain was a member of the bloc. Come the end of next year, a Brexit bill sunset clause means that’s what’s left of this EU law will vanish.
As we move away from EU rules, Rees-Mogg says the government is keen to ensure that new unnecessary regulations don’t take their place. The hope is that, for the majority of companies, onerous regulations will become a thing of the past.
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