Brexit in chaos as Tory MPs trigger vote of no confidence in May

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Probably the Sec of State for Exiting the EU's comments about the Dover-Calais route

While he didn't actually say anything about being an island or not, he said he had previously had little clue about the volume of trade going through the major port at the narrowest point of the English Channel:

All at sea: Raab's ignorance of Dover-Calais stuns critics

Opposition parties and pro-remain groups have criticised the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, after he admitted that until recently he did not fully appreciate the importance of the Dover-Calais crossing for UK trade.

Speaking at an event on Brexit and the tech industry, Raab said that consumers would lose out if new rules create delays at the border.

In comments reported by the Politico website, he said: “I hadn’t quite understood the full extent of this, but if you look at the UK and look at how we trade in goods, we are particularly reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing.

“And that is one of the reasons why we have wanted to make sure we have a specific and very proximate relationship with the EU, to ensure frictionless trade at the border … I don’t think it is a question so much of the risk of major shortages, but I think probably the average consumer might not be aware of the full extent to which the choice of goods that we have in the stores are dependent on one or two very specific trade routes.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/08/dominic-raab-dover-calais-brexit-uk-france

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