Caller who voted Brexit for 'less bureaucracy' has goods held 'hostage' and stock delayed

14 May 2022, 11:35

This frustrated business owner who voted for Brexit because she was "fed up with the bureaucracy" of the EU now has "more of it" as her business struggles to cope with additional costs and delays.

It comes after The European Union accused Foreign Secretary Liz Truss of failing to compromise in negotiations over the future of Northern Ireland post-Brexit.

Ms Truss warned the EU on Thursday that if it did not show the "requisite flexibility" over the Northern Ireland Protocol the UK would have "no choice but to act" alone.

Caller Sally, who runs an online children's clothing business, told Matt: "I think Brexit has been disaster... We sell children's clothes, most of which we import from Europe, they're all made in Europe so they all have certificates of origins when they come through customs.

"And obviously with children's clothes we don't pay VAT on them because they're zero-rated, and I think that's been the case since 1976?

"Because the goods are made in Europe we don't have to pay any import customs duty.

"We get charged constantly by courier companies who insist we have to pay the duty and the VAT even though we don't have to.

"I've spoken so many times to HMRC about trying to get this sorted out, because we end up paying VAT and customs duty and then we have to claim it back.

Read more: UK faces 'trade war with EU' if Govt rip up Northern Ireland protocol, Lord Ricketts warns

"And we do our VAT returns every three months, it's impacting on our cash flow."

Sally continued: "One of the courier companies got hold of their CEO because they literally were holding my goods hostage.

"I managed to get them released without having to pay, but I would say from a business point of view, I am probably spending a day a week trying to sort this out."

Sally said Brexit has cost her "thousands" which has had a "massive impact" on her cash flow, and that she has to wait "up to 3 weeks" for stock whereas it used to be a week before the new rules were introduced.

Read more: Government would be 'stupid' to tear up Northern Ireland Protocol, Lord Mandelson warns