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    Post-Brexit border controls slammed as ‘chaotic’ as system charges customers for checks that never took place

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorA post-Brexit border control system has caused a string of errors with businesses mistakenly charged for goods checks that never took place, customs agents say.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has come under fire after angry businesses experienced errors with the “chaotic” customs system.During an online meeting on Tuesday, government officials were told a consignment was not unloaded at a government-run border inspection facility at Sevington in Kent because of a design flaw in the inspection bay. But the shipment owner was still charged for the inspection despite never happening, a customs agent complained. Lorries at the Sevington Inland Border Facility in Ashford as the National Audit Office warns over uncertainty for a post-Brexit border controls system More

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    Why the Lib Dems pledge to reverse Brexit is their best chance this election

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsWhen Jo Swinson ignored the advice of a few of the more senior Lib Dem MPs and took one of the great political gambles in 2019 it spectacularly failed.The then Lib Dem leader made a deal with the SNP to effectively force an early general election to break the then Brexit deadlock and give Boris Johnson the election he was desperate for.She went into the campaign as her party’s “candidate for prime minister” with a promise to have a second referendum to reverse the 2016 Brexit vote front and centre. Instead of measuring the curtains for 10 Downing Street though she lost her seat in Scotland and her party dropped from 12 to 11 seats.But as they launch their manifesto today, the process of reversing Brexit is back on the agenda. There are good reasons though why they believe it will succeed now where it failed five years ago.Ed Davey launching the Lib Dem manifesto More

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    Could a pact between Scottish Labour and Tories oust SNP?

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The idea of Labour and Tory strategists working together at the next general election – plotting over tactics and where to place their resources – sounds like an […] More

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    A constitutional clash looms on gender reforms

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails To set aside sensitive moral questions and competing human rights is the best way to analyse the purely political aspects of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. It […] More

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    Inside Politics: Caught in a web

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter. Sir Gavin Williamson kept a tarantula on his desk while Conservative Party chief whip. Is […] More

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    Inside Politics: Cop on

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter. Rishi Sunak has insisted that the world can still limit temperature rises to 1.5C ahead […] More

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    Inside Politics: ‘Material risk to UK financial stability’

    For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter. Beware – the anti-growth coalition is out in force this morning. Its members could be […] More