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New post-Brexit border checks ‘set to zero’ to avoid what Defra calls risk of serious disruptionThe UK government has reportedly told port health authorities it will not “turn on” health and safety checks for EU imports as new post-Brexit border controls begin this month.A presentation prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) highlighted the risk of “significant disruption” if the...

Commission to seek approval from leaders to start talks with UK on visa-free exchanges for 18- to 30-year-oldsThe European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the...

British growers and sellers fear government measures starting on 30 April could result in delays and plants being damagedGarden centres and nurseries are stockpiling plants before Brexit checks are introduced later this month, amid concerns over whether new border posts will be ready to deal with the volume of deliveries.The Horticultural Trade Association (HTA), which represents garden retailers and growers, said many of its...

UK hospitality industry hit by crisis as thousands of young Italians are forced out by latest round of rules and cost-of-living crisisEmanuela Reccia has lived in London for almost a decade. She was a teenager when she left her home city of Naples to become a waitress in the UK, bringing her expertise and love of Italian cuisine to the capital.But the 27-year-old, like...

Rules due to come in this month will impose new handling fees – and experts say small suppliers are already being driven awayMinisters’ decision to impose Brexit import checks on 30 April will lead to shortages of some foods, flowers and herbs, industry leaders have warned.In the week after the government was accused of blindsiding the British food industry by giving 27 days’ notice...

Levelling up secretary says he should have been upfront with David Cameron about his role in leave campaignMichael Gove has admitted “moral cowardice” during the Brexit campaign by not being upfront with David Cameron about his role in the leave campaign.In an interview for the Political Currency podcast with George Osborne and Ed Balls, the levelling up secretary said he was initially reluctant to...

Fees of up to £145 on EU animal and plant products through Dover and Folkestone begin on 30 AprilBusiness live – latest updatesTrade groups have warned that consumers could see a rise in food prices after the UK government announced the introduction of post-Brexit charges on imports of EU food and plant products later this month.The government has published details of fees – known...

Schemes to replace EU subsidies will not plug gap left by loss of EU subsidies for most farmersFarmers are calling for the government to grant them a universal basic income, saying the post-Brexit agriculture subsidy scheme has left many poorer.Delays to the sustainable farming schemes put in place after the UK left the European Union, to replace the common agricultural policy (CAP), have meant...

Exclusive: Visas created hastily to solve labour shortages expose people to ‘hyper-precarity’ and exploitationVisas created hastily to solve labour shortages as a result of Brexit have put workers at greater risk of modern slavery and exploitation, research has found.Strict conditions on agricultural and care visas created after Britain left the EU expose workers to “hyper-precarity” and increase their vulnerability to exploitation, a study by...

Sevington site was never designed to handle volume of imports envisaged by post-Brexit changes due in April, port’s health chief warnsAn inland facility set up to carry out checks on nearly all EU meat and dairy imports coming through Dover will be unable to cope when post-Brexit rules come in next month, the port’s health authority has warned.The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) said...

Producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflationFood industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”.Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling...

Exclusive: Data shows costs have contributed to value of meat exports falling by 17% since 2019Food businesses sending products to the EU have had to fork out an extra £170m in export costs because of Brexit red tape, with the changes described as being “catastrophic” for some exporters.Data shared with the Guardian shows that in the three years since leaving the single market, exporters...

Authority weighs up legal action against government over new checks on imported meat taking place 22 miles inlandThe Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now...

A business department report trumpeting the four-year benefits of leaving the EU does not match the reality faced by companiesOn the four-year anniversary of Brexit last Wednesday, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch trumpeted its successes. “The British people’s conviction that the UK would excel as masters of our own fate has paid dividends,” she said, launching a report detailing the benefits.Among the top...

Assembly members to gather at Stormont to restore power sharing under Sinn Féin first ministerNorthern Ireland’s devolved government is to reconvene on Saturday after a two-year boycott, with Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill making history as the first nationalist first minister.Assembly members (AMs) are to gather at Parliament Buildings at Stormont at 1pm to restore power-sharing institutions that collapsed exactly two years ago. Continue reading...

‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish SeaNew rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union...

Andrea Leadsom says businesses experiencing ‘some friction’ should ‘adapt’ to changes in trade rulesBusiness live – latest updatesBritish businesses experiencing “some friction” when trading with the European Union after Brexit is the “price you pay” for “being a sovereign state again”, a government minister has said.On the fourth anniversary of Britain officially leaving the European union, the health minister and Brexiter Andrea Leadsom said...

The DUP has endorsed a deal with the UK government to restore power sharing in NI, paving an end to two years of political deadlockGood morning. Rail strikes are still going on in England, but in one part of the UK a long-running “strike” by key public sector workers seems about to come to an end. DUP MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) have...

In today’s newsletter: how the DUP finally brought two-year boycott of Stormont assembly to an end• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It took 726 days, and a fraught five hour meeting that ended at one o’clock this morning – but at last, it looks like power-sharing is back on in Northern Ireland.At a press conference after a meeting at...

Requirement for importers to give 24 hours’ notice of deliveries described as ‘unfeasible’ by suppliersNew Brexit border rules could cut the shelf life of fresh food from mainland Europe by a fifth and leave some deliveries from the EU unsaleable, major food bodies have warned.The SPS Certification Working group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn of the UK’s food supply, has said new...

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Canada says UK was unwilling to give access to agricultural productsFull story: UK suspends trade talks with CanadaEuropean inflation could fall faster than previously expected according to a survey of EU economists – the flip side of lower output in the bloc’s largest economy.A survey by the European Central Bank said that headline inflation...

Talks that began in 2022 halted amid unhappiness on both sides about lack of access to agricultural marketsThe UK has halted trade talks with Canada, with discussions breaking down after a disagreement over beef and cheese.The two countries have been negotiating for the past two years in the wake of Britain leaving the European Union, with trade continuing under the same deal brokered when...

Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future cropsThe UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the...

London mayor calls for ‘youth mobility agreement’ in one of the most pro-European interventions by a Labour politician since EU exitLondon mayor Sadiq Khan has called for young people to be able to move freely to and from the EU for the first time since Brexit in order to lessen the economic and cultural damage caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European...