Brexit border checks to ‘add billions’ to consumer bills

Published

1 year ago

April 30, 2024

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Border checks on food and plant imports will add billions of pounds to the cost of doing business with the European Union, industry figures have warned.

From today European imports considered a “medium risk” to UK biosecurity will face physical inspection as part of a new border regime introduced almost eight years after the Brexit vote, and delayed five times in two years.

Plant and animal inspectors will examine a proportion of imported goods including fresh meat, fish, and dairy produce, a process that importers fear will disrupt supply chains, particularly for time-critical fresh goods.

The physical checks come three months after the introduction of new documentation for imports, including health certificates that require vets and plant inspectors to sign off consignments.

With importers also facing a charge for each consignment that comes into the UK irrespective of whether it is stopped for inspection, the government admits it will add more than £330m to annual business costs, and add 0.2% to food inflation over three years.

The Cold Chain Federation, which represents cold and frozen goods importers, believes government estimates are low, and puts the cost in billions.

“We think there’s going to be a billion pound’s worth of extra cost put onto food coming through Dover port alone, if you expand that to the rest of the country you’re looking at all sorts of money, so it won’t be 0.2%, it will be substantially more than that and the consumer will see that increase,” chief executive Phil Pluck told Sky News.

“Restaurants, delicatessens, fish and chip shops could well be affected by what’s currently happening today and the consumer, in the very near future will start to see some of those food products going up in price.”

The government insists the checks are necessary to keep food and plant-borne diseases including African swine fever out of the UK, and the cost of introducing the checks is “negligible” compared to the impact of a major disease outbreak.

Christine Middlemiss, the UK chief veterinary officer, said: “Now that we’re out of the EU and we can have our own biosecurity regime, we treat independently with other countries around the world so it’s important we’re managing our own biosecurity risks at the moment we’re at medium risk of incursion of a disease called African swine fever which is present in Germany and Italy and a number of countries in Europe.”

Smaller independent food importers fear they will be disproportionately affected by the new border regime as they lack the scale to mitigate costs or set up European subsidiaries to handle the process.

Stefano Vallebona came to the UK 40 years ago from Sardinia and began providing London’s top restaurateurs with high-quality European produce. He says the new red tape will discourage small suppliers from doing business with the UK and ultimately reduce choice.

“All the pasteurised cheese, they already have extra European certificates, and when you talk to suppliers they’re not so keen, probably because they’re too small, because it’s new and it’s time consuming, so we’re going to have less speciality products.

“We will have less interesting cheeses, less interesting meats, and probably more power to the supermarkets and less to independents because it’s going to be harder.”

European importers say the health checks are of limited value as they replicate the EU processes that the UK helped create for four decades, and have lived with for the last eight years without any additional processes.

Piotr Liczycki, managing director of Polish haulage firm Eljot International Transport, which specialises in meat imports, estimates his customers will pay around £1m in fees to the UK government this year.

“Nobody can explain what’s the difference between midnight and when the Brexit rules start up. It’s completely the same stuff, from the same factory, with the same quality, nothing has changed,” he told Sky News.

“Polish groups and poultry plants are wondering why the UK government didn’t enforce a solution like we have with Japan, or South Korea. You send us a couple of officials from Defra, they check the plant, do inspection, and say this plant is compliant with all our regulations so we give you permission to send goods for six months or a year.”

Cabinet Office minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said: “It is essential that we introduce these global, risk-based checks to improve the UK’s biosecurity. We cannot continue with temporary measures which leave the UK open to threats from diseases and could do considerable damage to our livelihoods, our economy and our farming industry.”

Business

US and China extend tariffs deadline again

Published

18 hours ago

August 12, 2025

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US and China extend tariffs deadline again

The world’s two largest economies, the US and China, have again extended the deadline for tariffs to come into effect.

A last-minute executive order from US President Donald Trump will prevent taxes on Chinese imports to the US from rising to 30%. Beijing also announced the extension of the tariff pause at the same time, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Those tariffs on goods entering the US from China were due to take effect on Tuesday.

The extension allows for further negotiations with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and also prevents tariffs from rising to 145%, a level threatened after tit for tat increases in the wake of Trump’s so-called liberation day announcement on 2 April.

It’s the second 90-day truce between the sides.

The countries reached an initial framework for cooperation in May, with the US reducing its 145% tariff on Chinese goods to 30%, while China’s 125% retaliatory tariffs went down to 10% on US items.

A tariff of 20% had been implemented on China when Mr Trump took office, over what his administration said was a failure to stop illegal drugs entering the US.

Sector-specific tariffs, such as the 25% tax on cars, aluminium and steel, remain in place.

Chinese stock markets were mixed in response to the news, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.08%

The Shanghai Composite stock index rose 0.46%, and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.35%.

Business

Wage rises slow as retail and hospitality jobs continue to fall

Published

18 hours ago

August 12, 2025

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Wage rises slow as retail and hospitality jobs continue to fall

The rate of wage rises in the UK continued to slow as the number of job vacancies and people in work fell, according to new figures.

Average weekly earnings slowed to 4.6% down from 5%, while pay excluding bonuses continued to grow 5%, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the three months to June.

It means the gap between inflation – the rate of price rises – and wage increases is narrowing, and the labour market is slowing. Inflation stood at 3.6% in June.

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The number of employees on payroll has fallen in ten of the last 12 months, with the falls concentrated in hospitality and retail, the ONS said. It came as employers faced higher wage bills from increased minimum wages and upped national insurance contributions.

As a result, it’s harder to get a job now than a year ago.

“Job vacancies, likewise, have continued to fall, also driven by fewer opportunities in these industries,” the ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said.

The number of job vacancies fell for the 37th consecutive period and in 16 of the 18 industry sectors. Feedback from employers suggested firms may not be recruiting new workers or replacing those who left.

Unemployment remained at 4.7% in June, the same as in May.

The ONS, however, continued to advise caution in interpreting changes in the monthly unemployment rate due to concerns over the figures’ reliability.

The exact number of unemployed people is unknown, partly because people do not respond to surveys and answer the phone when the ONS calls.

The worst is yet to come

Wage rises are expected to fall further, and redundancies are anticipated to rise.

“Wage growth is likely to weaken over the course of the year as softening economic conditions, rising redundancies and elevated staffing costs increasingly hinder pay settlements,” said Suren Thiru, the economics director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

“The UK jobs market is facing more pain in the coming months with higher labour costs likely to lift unemployment moderately higher, particularly given growing concerns over more tax rises in this autumn’s budget.”

What does it mean for interest rates?

While wage rises are slowing, the fact that they’re still above inflation means the interest rate setters of the Bank of England could be cautious about further cuts.

Higher pay can cause inflation to rise. The central bank is mandated to bring down inflation to 2%.

But one more interest rate cut this year, in December, is currently expected by investors, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

The evidence of a weakening labour market provides justification for the interest rate cut of last week.

Business

Money Problem: ‘My husband is freelance and in hospital – how can I make sure we don’t lose our home?’

Published

18 hours ago

August 12, 2025

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Money Problem: 'My husband is freelance and in hospital - how can I make sure we don't lose our home?'

Every week, our Money blog team finds the answer to a reader’s financial problem or consumer dispute. Here’s our latest…

My husband is freelance and the breadwinner of the family. He is in hospital for an unknown length of time. Is there any support for us in the short term, so we can keep our home?
Anonymous

Our cost of living specialist Megan Harwood-Baynes tackles this one…

I am so sorry to hear this – I have recently been through something similar with my husband, and it can be really stressful when you add financial worries on top of medical issues.

To help you navigate the next steps, I’ve broken this up into what support you can get with your mortgage specifically, government help and some advice on the rest of your bills.

Help with housing

Your most immediate concern seemed to be housing (understandably). First, try not to panic – it is easy to skip to the thought of losing your home, but the last thing your mortgage lender is going to want to do is go through the hassle of repossession for what could just be a short-term issue.

Start by having a look through your insurance – certain types of insurance can help with mortgage repayments if your income falls due to sickness.

(If you don’t have this, make a note to consider taking it out for next time – you never know when something like this could happen again, and income protection insurance could make a huge difference in the future.)

Assuming you don’t have insurance coverage, the next step is to contact your lender. The sooner you do this, the better, as you’re more likely to have better options available to you before you miss a payment.

Things you can ask for include:

To lengthen the term of your mortgage;
To switch to interest-only repayments;
Ask about a temporary mortgage payment holiday.

There are pros and cons to all of the above, which you should consider carefully.

For example, a mortgage holiday is only suitable as a temporary fix – remember, you are still racking up interest on your remaining mortgage. It will leave the balance and remaining payments higher than they were before.

If you have already missed a payment, you are now in mortgage arrears. This can damage your credit file, and yes, it could eventually lead to you losing your home. But there is still support to get you back on track. Again, contact your lender and ask them for support.

The UK’s biggest mortgage lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority agreed on a set of standards under Rishi Sunak’s government, known as the Mortgage Charter. Under this, lenders are obligated to offer tailored support to anyone struggling – whatever the right option is will depend on your circumstances – so go into discussions with the mindset that they are there to help you.

Government support

If your husband is freelance, you won’t be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), but he will be able to claim Employment Support Allowance. This is for people who are self-employed, unemployed, classed as a student or who are employed but not eligible for SSP.

To apply, you will need to demonstrate that he is unable to work because of his illness or injury. The doctors should be able to provide a sick note and medical evidence for this.

You will need to make sure he has paid enough national insurance contributions. He should be able to check his records for gaps and then voluntarily fill them if need be.

He may also be eligible for a personal independence payment or PIP, which is for people living with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

In some cases, he may also be able to claim universal credit – this would be based on his monthly income before he went off sick.

As well as benefits, you may be entitled to a working-from-home tax rebate, or you could reclaim bank charges if you’ve incurred fees for going beyond your limit.

This seems overwhelming, I realise, so the best bet is to start by looking at the government’s benefits calculator.

You should also reach out to Citizens Advice or a charity such as Turn2us for advice from someone who can look at your situation in more detail.

If you aren’t yet in a debt crisis, I would caution against visiting a debt-counselling agency. They may push you towards declaring bankruptcy or an individual voluntary arrangement, which you may not need at this point. They are serious measures designed for those with few options left.

Help with bills and all the rest

Before you start missing payments on your bills, try to contact your utility companies first. Explain the circumstances – they are also obligated to help you.

You can claim support with your energy bills and any other costs. There’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach, so the best thing is to contact each of them individually.

Good luck, and I hope your husband recovers soon.

This feature is not intended as financial advice – the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via: