Brexit red tape is no accident – it’s government policy

The forms, fees and admin hoops that are strangling British exports abroad were created by the government’s flagship policies of leaving the EU single market and customs union, writes Jon Stone

Forty per cent of British exports have disappeared from European shelves since Brexit (AP)

The news that businesses are still struggling with Brexit red tape two years after the EU trade deal was agreed won’t be a surprise to anyone who has been reading The Independent.

Last month we reported that more than 40 per cent of British exports have disappeared from European shelves since Brexit. The scale of British unilateral economic disarmament has been truly vast.

As a former Brussels correspondent, I occasionally paid visits to the Belgian capital’s “British shop”, where expats missing home could stock up on familiar UK produce like Marmite or shortbread. But visit today, and everything possible has been replaced with an Irish analogue because it is easier to procure within the single market.