Apparently MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are very concerned that a new Customs Declaration Service will not be ready in time for Brexit – at least this was in a report in the Financial Times, assuming it is not another of their scare stories. The timescale is indeed somewhat tight to get the new system in place before the likely Brexit date, particularly if one bears in mind that many Government IT projects overrun.
Inability to process export declarations quickly could result in massive queues of traffic awaiting clearance. I recall a previous suggestion that lorries might be backed up along the M20 as far as the M25 which would certainly personally inconvenience me.
But I have some experience of implementing major IT systems for HMRC (or Customs and Excise as it then was) as I was involved in the implementation of the VAT system back in 1973 (when we joined the EEC at the same time). This was a project commenced two years earlier. It had to go operational on time, and it did so without a hiccup. One of the more successful events in my IT career although I only played a minor part in it. The key point I wish to make is that fixing a date when it had to go live concentrated everyone’s minds on the project, and it ensured the best expertise was available to deliver it. The VAT implementation project, which affected not just tax collection work by the Government but also almost all UK businesses was one of the biggest and most important Government IT projects ever completed.
Now when Mrs May decided to fix a specific date for when we will be leaving the EU, to my mind this was a wise thing to do. It will focus those responsible for the supporting systems to enable this to happen smoothly (whatever the nature of the deal, if any, finally agreed with the EU for post-Brexit trade arrangements) if a date is fixed now.
But yesterday the Daily Telegraph ran a front-page story on the “Brexit Mutineers” who were planning to revolt against a fixed date, and as a way to undermine Brexit it was suggested. Lots of other news channels covered the story and one of the mutineers, Bob Neill my local MP and one of the “mutineers”, appeared on television to suggest it was simply the normal democratic scrutiny process. The revolters also signed a letter printed in today’s Telegraph saying a fixed date was too inflexible. There may need to be last minute extensions to conclude a transitional deal. I beg to differ. A fixed date will concentrate the minds of both British and EU Brexit negotiators, which could be of course the reason for Mrs May’s decision.
On both political grounds, and to help those implementing the required systems, fixing a date is the right thing to do in my opinion.
Meanwhile the FT has an editorial supporting the “no fixed date” revolt, and they also published several letters today opposing Brexit. All I can do is yawn at their persistence in ignoring the realities of the situation.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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