re: #51 Big Beautiful Door

Consider just the Chunnel. It’d be a huge mess just to address that one point of entry.

Eurotunnel, however, believes that while “max fac” would be the most costly for business and consumers, the other option - the “customs partnership” favoured by May, under which the UK would collect tariffs for Brussels - would also mean extra checks and bureaucracy.

Sources close to the company say they have been making the case to ministers for months that any change that causes hold-ups will seriously disrupt businesses on both sides of the Channel that rely on the assumption that goods can be delivered quickly and on time.

John Keefe, Eurotunnel’s director of public affairs, said both options would cause delays and mean additional costs. “Eurotunnel transports 1.6 million trucks, carrying £120bn worth of goods across the Channel each year,” he said.

“Those goods feed industry, retail, and consumers and are delivered just in time, just in sequence and just when we need them. Additional checks at the border would delay the speed and frequency of delivery, result in wastage and lost production, and add to costs for consumers.”

He added that technology to prevent delays already existed, but said nothing could be planned or built until the UK and EU had decided on their future trading arrangements. Only then could precise specifications for checking goods be determined, equipment built, staff trained, and people educated about the new situation.

They’re going to blow up the British economy and they think it’s a benefit? It’ll be a mess - no one actually is saying this will result in economic growth.