Jacob Rees-Mogg: New Brexit minister promises to cut red tape

Jacob Rees-Mogg on his first outing as Brexit minister for opportunities visited Felixstowe port in Suffolk

The minister for Brexit opportunities has urged firms struggling with red tape to write to him, while on a visit to the UK's biggest container port.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said Brexit was "already a success" and that he would be working to "cut through the thicket" of red tape.

Mr Rees-Mogg who was visiting the Port of Felixstowe, was given the new role in the PM's recent cabinet re-shuffle.

But Suffolk's chamber of commerce said paperwork was hindering trade.

Koyas Miah of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce said many members had seen a rise in the costs of administration, and rules being interpreted differently by different EU countries was not helping.

"The paperwork, understanding what they (firms) need to do, how they need to do it is becoming a challenge," said Mr Miah.

"What businesses are now facing is one EU country saying they want XYZ for paperwork, but the other (EU country) wants something completely different," said Mr Miah.

He said the chamber has heard from businesses that have stopped trading with EU countries for now because of problems with compliance.

He has called for the Brexit minister to bring more clarity "in terms of what needs to be done".

Jacob Rees-Mogg said leaving the EU had already proved to be good for the UK

Mr Rees-Mogg promised he would be tackling the issues of compliance.

"We don't want to replace a European bureaucracy with a home-grown bureaucracy," he said.

"My role is to try and cut through this thicket. My role as the Brexit opportunities minister is to find out where regulations exist that we don't need, and to try and get rid of them."

UK exports to the EU fell by 14% between 2019 and 2020, while imports fell by 19%, according to the House of Commons library data.

Last week, a cross-party committee of MPs - the Public Accounts Committee - said that new arrangements for the UK-EU border had added costs to businesses exporting to Europe.

Mr Rees-Mogg cited the pandemic and general disruption to global trade, such as containers stuck in world ports, as some of the reasons behind the drop in trade, rather than leaving the EU.

"I think Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country, I think the evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between," he said.