‘Still £5.4m of council debt’: Portsmouth’s unused Brexit border control post

theguardian.com:

A s white elephants go, few come larger than £25m. That is the cost of the hi-tech border control post, built to government specifications to handle post-Brexit checks on goods entering the UK, that sits near the waterfront at Portsmouth international port.

The building has sat empty and unused for almost a year since its completion, after the UK government announced in April last year that the introduction of post-Brexit import checks would be delayed for a fourth time.

Since then, ministers have altered their plans for how goods will be inspected when they enter the country, with a full border strategy expected to be unveiled next month. Meanwhile, the local council faces an estimated £10m bill to cover its debts, maintenance and the cost of catering to the new changed requirements.

“It is frustrating,” says Mike Sellers, director of Portsmouth international port, surveying the echoing, empty rooms inside the enormous, state of the art structure. “Because we’ve built to a design that was specified by the government … So we’ve done what they’ve asked, and we built it in time.”

Physical checks on fresh produce entering the UK from the EU and the rest of the world, including meat, plants and forestry products, had been expected to begin on 1 July last year, after a string of postponed deadlines.

But they were delayed again in April 2022 amid industry reports that neither the required infrastructure nor technology would have been ready. The then Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said at the time it was wrong to impose new checks during a cost of living crisis, and risk further driving up food prices.

Ever since, ports, traders and businesses have waited for the government’s new post-Brexit border strategy, known