Evidence that leaving the EU has damaged UK trade is “few and far between”, the government’s Brexit Opportunities Minister has said.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was handed the new role last week, said recent drops in exports had been caused by disruption during Covid.
He argued that Brexit was “already a success” and boosting the economy. But the Office for Budget Responsibility said there was a Brexit hit to trade with the EU.
The UK left the EU’s trading regime in January 2021, 11 months after it left the bloc – with its trade now governed by a post-Brexit trade deal.
Since then, British businesses have experienced additional paperwork and border checks when exporting products to EU countries.
Last week, a cross-party committee of MPs said that new arrangements for the UK-EU border had added costs to exporting businesses.
In a report, the Public Accounts Committee said trade had been “suppressed” since the UK cut formal trade ties in January 2021, due a combination of Brexit, Covid and global economic problems.
The MPs said it was not possible to separate out the precise impact of each factor, but it was “clear” that Brexit had had an impact.
Official trade statistics show UK exports to the EU in the first ten months of 2021 were down 12% on pre-pandemic levels, in a year hit by disruption.
UK imports from the EU were 20% lower than before the pandemic. Asked by the BBC about falls in trade during a visit to the port of Felixstowe, Mr Rees-Mogg said Covid had caused “the most enormous disruptions to supply chains”.
“We’ve had containers simply being stuck the wrong place, being stuck in Chinese ports, being stuck in the port of Los Angeles,” he added.
“This has been a global trade issue – and we do have to recover from the problems of Covid”.
Asked whether Brexit had reduced UK trade, he replied: “I think Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country.
“I think the evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between.”
Source: bbc.com
