The economic consequences of the UK’s exit from the EU are only just becoming clear, and the government is under growing pressure to sort out at least some of the unravelling mess.
Lorry drivers are blaming the huge queues building up at the port of Dover “entirely” on post-Brexit controls, with one telling The Independent that disruption on both sides of the border is bound to get worse when imports and exports pick up again in February.
Meanwhile, port chiefs have urged the government to hold talks with the EU on ways to ease the impact of biometric checks that are set to come in later in 2022 and could cause “disastrous” disruption to traffic and trade.
Officials may be keeping their fingers crossed that businesses and logistics bosses will soon get on top of the extra red tape, but there are plenty of other issues piling up.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has said she believes “there is a deal to be done” with the EU to resolve the deadlock over Northern Ireland Protocol, and is thought to be aiming for an agreement by the end of February.
But her Brussels counterpart Maros Sefcovic has reportedly told EU member states he is “frustrated” and that there is “no prospect of an imminent breakthrough” in talks. Could Truss still trigger Article 16? Could we be heading for an ugly trade war?
Meanwhile, MPs are still dissecting the recent Australia deal’s lack of detailed safeguard mechanisms – warning that it could see British farmers undercut by cheap Australian meat imports. One Tory backbencher claimed the Australia deal was as “one-sided” as the Ashes cricket series.
I’m here to answer your questions live at 3pm on Monday 31 January – the second anniversary of Brexit. All you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below.
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Join us then, on this page at 3pm, as I tackle as many questions on what lies ahead as I possibly can.
