A collapse in British exports to the Irish Republic since Brexit has handed Dublin an extraordinary trade surplus with London, according to new figures.
The Irish government says new trading red tape explains the plunge in the value of goods sales – 47.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year – compared with the start of 2020. It suggests companies in the Republic have switched from buying products directly from EU countries, rather than from across the Irish Sea.
It comes as the mobile network EE announced it would join O2 in bringing back roaming charges for new customers who use their phones in Europe. It forms part of plans to change how customers are treated on the continent post-Brexit.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said “radical changes” need to be made to the Northern Ireland Protocol. “That’s what’s necessary,” he told reporters today, after the EU’s ambassador to the UK said the bloc was “turning regulations upside down to try and find a solution to” the so-called “sausage war” between Britain and Brussels.
