Markus Andrews

A leading wine wholesaler has calculated that Brexit is adding an average of more than £1.50 to the cost of every bottle of European wine he sells to consumers.The warning comes as the UK faces a cost of living crisis, with inflation running at 9 per cent and expected to top 10 per cent by the end of the year.Daniel Lambert, whose south Wales company was named International Wine Challenge small agent of the year in 2019, said that Brexit had caused “huge disruption” to his business since the UK transitioned out of the EU at the start of 2021.Some 18 months after the switch to post-Brexit arrangements under Boris Johnson’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), Mr Lambert said it was now possible to establish a true financial picture of the impact of the change.A long-standing critic of EU withdrawal, he said it was clear that the additional paperwork and delays created by Brexit had imposed a permanent increase to the cost of doing business, while delivering no benefit to his company.Writing on Twitter, Mr Lambert said that the average cost for importing wine from major European producers such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany was between £170 and £190 for a pallet of wine.Order, collection and delivery of a pallet, containing an average 672 bottles, typically took seven to 10 days from any part of the EU, which makes up two-thirds of wine consumed in the UK.Following Brexit, he said that lead times from order to delivery of shipments have stretched to as much as 21 days from Spain, 26 days from France, 35 from Germany or Austria and 45 to 70 from Italy.The best rates his company has been able to find for imports are £270 for a single pallet from Spain, £280 from France, £310 from Germany, and £340 from Austria or Italy.Charges from brokers for new paperwork on either side of the Channel can add anything between £25 and £150 to every import and export document, said Mr Lambert, though he said he was able to save an average of £65 on each consignment by doing some of the forms himself.The overall additional cost for logistics and paperwork has made importing a single pallet of wine from Spain £155 more expensive than before Brexit, £165 more from France, £180 from Italy and £150 from Germany or Austria, he calculated – the equivalent of 25p on every bottle.On top of this is the cost of an extra member of staff hired purely to deal with Brexit-related paperwork, which adds another 13p onto the cost of each bottle, he said.The new unreliability of delivery times has forced Mr Lambert to increase the stock he holds in order to be sure not to run out of particular products, adding an estimated 20p more to the average cost of a bottle.“So our costs have increased, with zero benefits to anyone, by 58p a bottle,” said Mr Lambert. “Once margins are applied at the usual wholesaler and retailer percentages this 58p becomes over £1.50 a bottle for no benefits to anyone, and it’s you the consumer that’s paying this.”Disruption to supply chains in the wake of the Covid pandemic has dramatically increased lead times and shipping costs for wines from producers such as Australia, giving EU bottles an even firmer grip on the UK market, he said.“My conclusion is very simple,” Mr Lambert. “No matter how many free trade agreements the UK gets, the one with our nearest neighbours is the most important.“You can’t argue against geography, and the global Covid reboot clearly shows this. We live in a just-in-time world – Brexit is the exact opposite.“Moreover, in a world where we need to use less energy and reduce CO2, buying locally matters like never before. So the obvious answer is stronger relationships with your nearest neighbours. It really is as simple as that in my opinion.” More

Plans being drawn up by Boris Johnson’s government to set an expiry date for great swathes of EU law currently in use in the UK could cause “chaos” for businesses, experts have warned.Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is said to have told the cabinet that he plans to introduce a five-year expiry date for around 1,500 pieces of EU regulatory legislation.But lawyers and business groups have warned that “blanket” changes risk creating extra complexity and uncertainty for companies that are already struggling with a multitude of new rules after Brexit.Eleonor Duhs – a lawyer who worked on the 2018 EU withdrawal act – told The Independent that a “self-imposed cliff-edge for retained EU law is a recipe for potential chaos”.Warning of the “danger” in changing so many rules affecting the economy without scrutiny, the partner at Bates Wells law firm added: “This proposal has the potential to drive investment away from the UK at a time when we really need it.”The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) – also warned against “deregulation for its own sake”, though the influential business group said it would carefully consider how any changes may affect British firms.“We should not complicate our trading relationship by diverging so far it makes UK goods and services unsellable into Europe,” William Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy, told The Independent.The government is keen to use the forthcoming “Brexit freedoms” bill to get rid of EU rules by bringing in “sunset clauses” that will force ministers to stick to them, amend them, or ditch them by the end of a five-year period, according to The Times.Mr Rees-Mogg is said to have told the cabinet earlier this month about the plan to set the expiry date on 1,500 pieces of EU regulation in a bid to “force radical thinking” from government departments.Jonathan Jones QC – the government’s former legal chief who quit over its Brexit policy – said the latest plan was “potentially very dangerous” since it would make it almost impossible for parliament and relevant industries to scrutinise each change.“Having sunset clauses in a blanket way for huge amounts of legislation is a very bad idea,” he told The Independent. “To change swathes of the law automatically is a recipe for uncertainty for businesses and consumers and everyone else.”Mr Jones continued: “If you scrap some rules on food safety automatically, for instance, then that is potentially very dangerous. Either there will be no rules, or do you revert to some existing laws in Britain from 1973? It’s bizarre.”Ms Duhs added: “To keep, change or scrap 1,500 pieces of legislation is a huge job at a time when ministers want to cut civil service resources. Who is going to undertake this exercise, and what is it that won’t get done because of it?”The TUC has demanded that the government makes clear that workers’ rights will be protected during the so-called “bonfire” of Brussels regulations. The leading union fears that Mr Rees-Mogg’s plan could see some protections “removed or watered down” without proper scrutiny by parliament.Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “Important workers’ rights and legal principles are being put at real risk by the government’s reckless plans.”Mr Rees-Mogg’s officials at the Cabinet Office have said that more than 2,000 ideas about making the most of Brexit have been received from the public.Among the “best ideas” revealed by the department are a suggestion to abolish an EU regulation that restricts vacuum-cleaner power to 1400 watts.A government spokesperson said: “Following our departure from the EU, we can now review, update and change our rules to best suit the needs of the public and UK businesses, just like governments do around the world.”The spokesperson said the Brexit freedoms bill “will empower parliament to think boldly about whether we want to maintain certain aspects of retained EU law, and instead whether we wish to repeal, amend or replace them for the benefit of the British people”. More

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has been accused of “taking voters for fools” after claiming that there were more people cheering than booing at Boris Johnson at Friday’s Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral.In a tweet on Friday evening, Ms Dorries suggested that the media had exaggerated the scale of jeers faced by the prime minister for the sake of sensational headlines.But her claim was swiftly contradicted by ITV News royal editor Chris Ship, who was present for the PM’s arrival and said the booing was “very loud indeed”.And her comments were widely mocked on social media, where many of the 19,000-plus Twitter users who responded to her message included clips of TV footage on which the boos were clearly audible.Some pointed out that, even if Ms Dorries were correct about cheers outnumbering jeers, it would still be unprecedented for a serving prime minister to be barracked at a church service to celebrate the Queen.In her tweet shortly before 7pm on Friday, Ms Dorries – whose role includes responsibility for media regulation – wrote: “There were far, far more cheers, but that doesn’t make a good headline does it?”Mr Ship replied: “The facts are, and I was there, the boos were very loud indeed. No escaping that. Reporters are there to report. Not make stuff up.”The barracking of the PM was remarked on by TV reporters covering the event as it happened, with BBC presenter Jane Hill noting that there was a “substantial amount” of booing as Mr Johnson and wife Carrie entered the cathedral.Responding to Ms Dorries’ tweet, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard said: “Simply not true. Lies like this are the reason that people choose to boo Boris. Everybody can hear the live commentary for themselves. The boos when Boris left were even louder.”And Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “Your regular reminder that Nadine Dorries is Boris Johnson’s Minister for Disinformation. They’re taking you for fools.” Labour MP Christian Wakeford, who defected from Tories in protest at Mr Johnson’s leadership, said: “That’s because it’s not true, Nadine.”And rugby star Brian Moore told Ms Dorries: “Your sycophancy has robbed you of the little judgement you had. Have some dignity.”Several Twitter users posted a famous quote from George Orwell’s novel 1984, describing an authoritarian government’s use of propaganda to distort the truth: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”Other respondents were quick to make fun of the culture secretary’s comment.In a reference to the lockdown-busting parties at 10 Downing Street, Scarfolk author Richard Littler tweeted: “Tories 2021: ‘There was no booze’. Tories 2022: ‘There were no boos’.”Author James Felton asked the culture secretary: “Genuine question; are you aware of the fact that other people can hear sounds?”In response to Ms Dorries’ criticism of press coverage, The Times ran an unscientific Twitter poll, which found significantly more than 90 per cent of those responding felt there was more booing than cheering audible.Times Radio broadcaster Matt Chorley asked: “Can you recall an occasion when a prime minister has received *any* boos in the middle of a big royal event?”Broadcaster Danny Baker said: “There are supposed to be far more cheers. That’s what people who attend royal events do.“That there was a huge groundswell of negativity for Johnson is unprecedented. You saying that there were ‘more cheers’ admits he was also roundly booed. By a royal crowd.” More

Proposed changes to national security laws would give ministers and spies immunity from allegations of assisting crimes such as murder or torture abroad, a Conservative former minister has warned.A clause in the National Security Bill, being debated by MPs on Monday, would create an exemption from the offence of encouraging or assisting a crime overseas in cases where it is “necessary for the proper exercise of any function” of MI5, MI6, GCHQ or the armed forces.Former cabinet member David Davis said that the measure was “far too slack” in the discretion it grants to ministers, and urged MPs to amend it so it applied only to acts compatible with the UK’s “civilised standards”.Human rights charity Reprieve warned that said it would effectively grant immunity to ministers or officials who provide information to governments overseas which leads to someone being tortured or unlawfully killed in a drone strike.The charity’s joint executive director Maya Foa said it would destroy the UK’s “moral legitimacy” to condemn abuses by foreign governments, such as the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, believed by US intelligence to have been ordered by the country’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.Mr Davis told The Guardian: “This bill is drafted so loosely that it could let ministers off the hook if they authorised crimes like murder and torture from the safety of their desks in Whitehall.“I urge colleagues to constrain it to actions appropriate to our aims and civilised standards.”The bill, announced in last month’s Queen’s Speech, amends provisions in the Serious Crime Act 2007, which made it an offence to do anything in the UK to encourage or assist a crime overseas, including by aiding an unlawful assassination or sending information to be used in a torture interrogation.Ms Foa said the new bill would risk putting ministers “above the ordinary criminal law” and could even embolden them to “commit serious crimes thinking they can do so with effective impunity”.A Home Office spokesperson said: “The amendment to the Serious Crime Act will only remove the risk of individuals facing criminal liability where they are carrying out authorised lawful activities deemed necessary, in good faith and following proper procedure.“Put simply, the government believes it is not fair to expect the liability for this action to sit with an individual UK intelligence officer or member of the armed forces who is acting with wholly legitimate intentions.” More

Conservative MPs have been warned they risk losing their seats if they ditch Boris Johnson as leader.Despite the prime minister’s current unpopularity, which saw him booed by voters as he arrived for the Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, a government source said he remained “an election-winning machine”.Mr Johnson is fighting back against demands from his own MPs for a confidence vote in his leadership, which could come as early as next week.More than 40 Tory MPs have openly called for his removal, with at least 17 submitting no-confidence letters to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady, who must call a vote if the total reaches 54.Last month’s publication of Sue Gray’s report into the Partygate scandal has prompted a wave of new letters, and Mr Johnson’s supporters fear that pressure for his removal will intensify if Tories lose by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton on 23 June.Speaking to the i newspaper, a senior government source said that none of the potential alternative Tory leaders have the same ability as Mr Johnson to attract voters in the “Red Wall” constituencies in the Midlands and North seized from Labour in 2019.”If you chuck Boris, you blow the Red Wall apart,” said the source. “He is the only leader that holds it together.”The mandate that Boris was given in 2019 was vast and he reaches parts of the country that no Conservative leader has in a generation.”It’s a huge, huge call, two years from an election, to tell an election-winning machine that time is up.”The source also said that Mr Johnson was better-placed than his potential replacements to defend the traditionally Tory “Blue Wall” seats under pressure from Liberal Democrats in the south and rural areas.”Boris has shown that he understands the traditional Blue Wall sensibility and it will be important for him in time to want to then prove and show that,” said the source. More

No port or airport in the UK has a full complement of border staff, with overall numbers one-third below what they should be, unions have warned.The figures emerged as travellers braced for a chaotic weekend with large numbers of Britons returning from half-term holidays in the wake of long delays and queues earlier in the week.Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the ISU border services union, said that numbers meant it was not possible to keep ports and airports queue-free – and Border Force was facing demands from government to cut staffing further.But she dismissed calls from Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary for the army to be called in to clear the chaos, saying: “They are a brilliant resource and they are very very skilled at what they do, but that’s not necessarily either manning a border or doing check-in or baggage handling.”With job vacancies at a high level across the country, she said that low pay and antisocial hours made the Border Force uncompetitive in recruiting staff, compared with jobs like delivery driving.Ms Moreton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the issues being faced by travellers were caused by shortcomings in port and airport operations, rather than immigration staff.But she added: “Border Force also is understaffed. And there are likely to be issues at some locations and at busy times with getting through the border as well.“We’re about a third under where we need to be nationally so that no port or airport has sufficient staff.“We can’t staff to keep the border 100 per cent queue-free 100 per cent of the time. That’s too expensive.“And of course we now have government’s call to reduce our number still further down to 2016 levels. But of course travel is nowhere near where 2016 was. The work the Border Force does on the small boats crisis – that is all significantly above that level.Ms Moreton said this week’s difficulties had come as a “surprise”, as travel companies and airports should have been aware well in advance that the Platinum Jubilee half-term would generate a surge in passenger numbers.But she said that the industry was suffering from the high demand for staff due to the current state of the employment market.“Unemployment has never been so low, so individuals might be choosing to work in better-paid roles or in roles where you don’t work shifts,” she said.“It’s an issue for recruitment with Border Force, that the salary just doesn’t keep up with today’s expectations. You can earn more as a delivery driver for DHL and the like. That may well have something to do with it.“You need to be able to get your recruitment in line and your salaries into a line where people are going to accept those jobs.” More

The Bishop of Buckingham has joined calls for Boris Johnson to resign, saying he “obviously” lied over parties in Downing Street during lockdown.It was “nonsense” for the prime minister to claim he did not realise what was going on, the Rt Rev Dr Alan Wilson said, adding the country needs a leader it can trust.The senior Church of England figure’s intervention came as Mr Johnson was booed by the public on arrival to St Paul’s Cathedral for the national service of thanksgiving for the Queen.Asked on Times Radio if Mr Johnson should resign, Dr Wilson said: “The only answer is yes. I’m an army baby and what they used to say in the army was you can trust anybody, but you can’t trust a liar.”“In all sorts of contexts, you have to be able to trust the people who lead you, who represent you.”He said excuses for the prime minister’s behaviour – “oh I didn’t realise, I was ambushed by a cake” – were clearly nonsense and that he was “obviously” an out and out liar. More

Food banks expect a further surge in demand for help from struggling families this summer unless the government expands support for parents over the school holidays.The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) said some food banks were having to cut down on the size of parcels, as the cost of living crisis pushes them to breaking point.Yet ministers are resisting calls to extend free school meal eligibility and payments available during the holidays, despite fears one million children could go hungry.Desperate food bank bosses told The Independent they expected the summer break to “push yet more through the doors” – and fear they may even have to turn people away.The Micah Liverpool food bank has seen demand for help increase from around 220 parcels a week last year to more than 400 parcels a week during May.“We can barely cope at the moment,” said executive director Paul O’Brien. “The demand is like we’ve never seen before, and we’re expecting it to get worse when families are pushed into trouble over the school holidays.”Mr O’Brien said the Liverpool charity had been forced to cut parcels to basic provisions and was now having “difficult discussions” about whether it will have a cap on the number of people who can be helped.“We don’t want to turn people away, but this kind of demand is just not sustainable. I fear a lot of food banks will be pushed to breaking point,” he said.A growing number of councils in England are ending the free school meal vouchers which had been available during the holidays, as campaigners insist that the government has not put enough money into support schemes.Alexandra McMillan, who runs the Legendary Community Club food bank in Lewisham, said the support from government was “nowhere near enough” – arguing that it was “extremely unfair to expect food banks to pick up the pieces”.The south London food bank manager also expects a rise in the number of people coming for help during the summer holidays, having seen a 15 per cent increase over the winter.“It’s scary – there doesn’t seem to be any end to the rise in demand,” said Ms McMillan, who warned the charity might not be able to help anyone new in the coming months. “The safety net is crashing and burning before our eyes.”England star Marcus Rashford, teaching unions and charities have all urged the government to extend the eligibility for free school meals.Around 1.7 million children are currently eligible to receive free school meals, but the Food Foundation says 2.6 million children live in households that missed meals or struggled to access food.Food banks and charity chiefs are also worried about the threadbare safety net during the school holidays, after the government ended a national free school meal voucher scheme last year. More