No-deal Brexit 'will threaten European tourism, agriculture and lead to medicine shortages', warns Brexit Secretary
Steve Barclay looked to step up the pressure on the Continent by questioning how prepared it was for a disorderly UK exit
Steve Barclay insisted disruption at ports due to tariffs and customs checks would hit 'an industry valued at around half a billion pounds a year' (Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)
By Richard Vaughan
September 19, 2019 9:46 pm(Updated October 14, 2020 6:24 pm)
A no-deal Brexit will threaten European tourism, agriculture and lead to dramatic medicine shortages in Ireland, the Brexit Secretary has warned.
Steve Barclay looked to step up the pressure on the Continent by questioning how prepared it was for a disorderly UK exit, which he said would present challenges for Europe as well as the UK.
Speaking to an audience of business leaders in Madrid, the Brexit Secretary struck a far more confrontational tone on the risks of a no-deal Brexit.
Raising the threat of severe shortages for Ireland, Mr Barclay said: "Two-thirds of Irish medicines come through Great Britain, 40 per cent of its exports go through Dover.
Tourism warning across the Continent
"Its supermarkets are supplied from distribution centres in the Midlands. Yet this is presented as solely a UK challenge. It is a mutual challenge, because if indeed there were two and a half days of delays at Calais, then the impact of that would not solely be felt within the UK, it would be felt in Ireland and indeed in businesses here in Spain."
In a direct warning to Spanish farmers, Mr Barclay insisted disruption at ports due to tariffs and customs checks would hit "an industry valued at around half a billion pounds a year".
Failure to thrash out a withdrawal agreement would also lead to direct competition on protected Spanish produce from UK dealers as well as its fishing industry, he added.
'Tapestry of threats and attacks'
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"Spanish sherry, manchego cheese, cava, which will lose their protection in the event of no deal, and indeed face competition from any changes to UK procurement rules," Mr Barclay warned.
"And a No Deal exit would bring changes of course to fishing as the UK becomes an independent coastal state, on which areas like Vigo would no doubt have an interest."
Irish academic Jennifer Cassidy, a former EU diplomat and now Oxford University lecturer, described Mr Barclay's speech as a "tapestry of threats and attacks".
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