While most UK consumers found a way to weather the third lockdown, manufacturers were not so lucky after the government’s last-minute deal with the EU plunged British ports into chaos and sent trade plummeting by 40%.
Without a smooth route across the Channel, the manufacturing sector was always going to struggle. That trade dropped by the most in more than 20 years illustrates how dependent on trade the UK is and has always been.
As an act of self-sabotage, Boris Johnson’s willingness to negotiate the thinnest of Brexit deals was always going to rank alongside the major economic debacles of the past century. Up and down the country, businesses report edging towards the brink of collapse as hold-ups at the border prevent their goods making it to customers in the EU.
To read the full article from the Guardian, please click here