“With the news that British ports are contemplating taking legal action after investing millions of pounds to create post-Brexit border control facilities which now remain unused in the wake of the UK’s government’s decision to defer the planned checks on European plant and animal produce is one that resonates very clearly with us,” reads CEO Mike Parr’s post on LinkedIN.
Parr was referring to reports that emerged in April after the Government had confirmed that post-Brexit import checks would be delayed for the fourth time. Some of Britain’s largest seaports announced they would be considering legal action against the UK Government to recover the cost of building border control posts as they feared their investment was a waste of money.
In a blog post last week, PML described the pains and expenses hauliers have had to deal with during Brexit preparations, covid lockdowns, London LEZ-zone restrictions, and so on.
“At a time when we were also battling the challenges associated with Covid, we committed huge resources to ensure we were fit and ready to adapt our business to meet the new Brexit requirements. Huge resources in terms of upweighting our staffing to work through the minefield of confusing new paperwork; committing dedicated personnel to monitoring the constant changes in government guidance and shifting of deadlines; future proofing our new state-of-the-art Kent logistics and transport hub so that it is compliant and had the capability to meet with the new border control checks protocol.”
Then Parr called on the government to admit its mistakes:
“And now we hear of yet another government U-turn. One which has incurred significant costs for our business and which could signal the demise of many freight forwarders who are now seriously out of pocket. With the political landscape looking more precarious than ever before, we are not confident that this will signal the end of any further last-minute changes. Surely the government has to acknowledge its role in playing with people’s livelihoods and accepting that the mistakes it has made have had dire financial consequences for many. Supporting and guiding business, kickstarting the economy, providing a framework for growth. Surely this is what we should be expecting from those in power?”
Photo credits @ facebook /PerishableMovementsLtd