Boris continues to fail over the implementation of freeports

The Government continues to show no urgency to implement the rollout of freeports within the UK, with efforts hampered by bureaucracy, the PM's obsession with net zero and an apparent lack of backbone, argues Jayne Adye, Director of Get Britain Out.

Time after time the Government has shown a failure to properly implement and advocate for the elements of Brexit which could help set the UK on the path towards real post-Brexit success. One of Boris Johnson's long-time supporters and a former Leader of the Conservative Party, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, has even criticised the PM recently for failing to deliver Brexit reforms. Included in these failures is the lack of ambition behind the full rollout of freeports across the entire UK during the five and a half years since we voted to leave the EU.

Areas given freeport status should benefit from a wide package of tax relief; simplified customs procedures; streamlined planning processes to boost redevelopment; as well as government support to promote regeneration and innovation. At present the Government has announced they wish to create a total of 11 Freeports – with 8 in England, 2 in Scotland, 1 in Wales, but none, so far, have been proposed for Northern Ireland. However, despite the UK now being completely out of the EU and the transition period for well over a year, so far only one freeport is fully up and running – in Teesside. Why the delays?

The proper implementation of freeports would not only give the chosen regions a huge economic boost, but it would grant the Prime Minister and Jacob Rees-Mogg – his new Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency – an excellent way of quickly introducing far-reaching deregulation. This could be seen as radical in the wider country, but can be specifically tailored to the needs of each freeport. If successful within the confines of a freeport, then the same policies would be much easier to promote to the country as a whole at the next General Election.

Instead of shying away from implementing the full opportunities of Brexit in Northern Ireland, the value of a freeport in the country's old docks and manufacturing hubs, should not be underestimated in an often-forgotten part of the UK. This would not only be a way to reduce the need for customs checks in the Irish Sea, because of simplified customs procedures implemented in any freeport, the increased bond such a commitment to Northern Ireland would create would also help solidify the 'Union' of the UK, regardless of the attempts by the EU to divide this country.

Naturally the customs checks issues should never be necessary, because the Northern Ireland Protocol should not be allowed to continue in its current form. However, the UK Government must not be slow to take action which will benefit the people of Northern Ireland – regardless of what the EU might say.

In another sign of the UK's categoric failure to pursue a radical Brexit agenda, the two new freeports now agreed with the Scottish Government have been specifically designated as 'green' freeports. Instead of focusing on creating the best possible environment for industry, and innovation through the removal of additional bureaucracy, we will see Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon's huge net zero commitments forced on businesses in the regions selected. This is hardly slashing red tape.

Unbelievably, for more than 30 years the UK has failed to export any warship bigger than a patrol vessel. How is this acceptable for a formerly seafaring nation, which once so proudly claimed to rule the waves? Scottish freeports could be at the heart of a recovery in the shipbuilding sector, building on the specialisation in producing the UK's own two new aircraft carriers, and encouraging huge new investment in Scottish regions from foreign investors. Instead, we can be sure this enforced net zero agenda will only crush the opportunities further in this important area of manufacturing, and these two new freeports will be far less attractive to investors.

The Government's delayed and lacklustre implementation of freeports around the UK, also signals a fundamental lack of understanding within Government about the nature of the global economy. By no means are we all competing on a level playing field, to borrow a phrase from Michel Barnier. If UK freeports are to attract enough investment and new business to make them effective, then they cannot be seen as a halfway-house which do not offer the best rates and benefits when compared to our competitors.

For example, a hypothetical Northern Irish freeport should have the same, if not a lower, level of corporation tax as the Republic of Ireland – currently 15 per cent – as opposed to the UK rate which is set to rise to 25 per cent in April 2023 from the current 19 per cent. Even with the other benefits of a freeport, why would any company looking to move their business want to pay 10 per cent more tax? If we do not make UK freeports the best places to do businesses, then what really is the point in setting them up in the first place?

If Boris Johnson and the Government are to really turn the corner on Brexit and in the polls, the same ambition that has been applied to ending the COVID-19 restrictions – and dealing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine – must be put towards radically implementing the full Brexit agenda which got him elected in the first place. Freeports have the potential to reinvigorate individual industries and deprived areas of the UK, as well as diversify the UK economy as a whole. A lack of backbone to ensure the delivery of world-leading freeports around the nation cannot be allowed to continue.