Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey, has received Parliamentary Answers from Treasury Minister Lord Livermore about the ongoing cost of the body set up to help traders navigate the growing complexity of trading within the United Kingdom while Northern Ireland has ongoing access to the EU Single Market.

Lord Empey said,

“The amount of taxpayers money that is going to operate the Windsor Framework and the Protocol with the EU is colossal. The figures released to me today are far from the full picture. I was advised that nearly £200m was being made available to erect inspection facilities at Northern Ireland Ports and today’s Answers confirm expenditure over the last four years for the Trader Support Service to be £385.01m.

 “These figures are not the full story. Private companies, including hauliers, have had to spend money on increased staff and spend additional time filling out forms and trying to comply with complicated processes. There are currently no figures available to quantify this, but one thing is clear – businesses and consumers will be paying the coats of all this.

“These complexities confirm why so many GB traders have given up supplying Northern Ireland. Currently there is uncertainty over veterinary medicines and their future supply, product labelling and compliance, such as motor vehicles. The costs must be vast and make Northern Ireland less efficient and more costly to do business.

“These revelations confirm what the Ulster Unionist Party has been saying all along. Brexit was not thought through for Northern Ireland and the negotiations held after the Referendum must rank as one of the biggest failures of UK statecraft in living memory. Our negotiators weren’t ready, had no proper plan for Northern Ireland and have left us in a constitutional and economic mess that will not easily be resolved. Those who urged that we charge headfirst into Brexit without a proper plan have a lot to answer for.”