TSSA slams "damning" NAO Brexit preparedness report

Commenting on today's NAO report into Brexit preparedness at the border, transport union TSSA has slammed "government incompetence which is risking jobs, frictionless trade and the ability of our citizens to travel freely."

The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted basic failures – including an ‘amber-red’ warning that not all the infrastructure will be ready by July 2021, computer systems not ready to cope with increase in processing customs from 60 million to 270m a year, contingency measures being scrambled but already admitting they “may not provide the full functionality of the original plans or may require manual process and increased resources”. The report is riddled with warnings of delays and cost increases.

Manuel Cortes, TSSA General Secretary, said: “This is a damning report which will make the hearts and heads of businesses sink. Our unpreparedness for Brexit is likely to hit travel and rail freight between Britain and continent at a time when business are already struggling.

“Far from the ‘oven ready’ deal that voters were promised in the 2019 election, we see time and time again that this government’s incompetence is risking jobs, frictionless trade and the ability of our citizens to travel freely.

“For our own industries, we see Eurostar already on its knees, the travel trade in a mess and rail freight also struggling. The last thing we need is a bureaucratic mess, massive delays and extra costs at our borders.”

The report is available here