by Ceren Sagir

BRITAIN will face “significant disruption” when the Brexit transition ends, a damning report highlighting the nation’s unpreparedness for leaving the European Union revealed today.

The National Audit Office (NAO) highlighted multiple failures in preparations for border controls, including an “amber-red” warning that not all infrastructure will be ready by July 2021 and that computer systems are not ready to cope with an increase in customs declarations from 60 million to 270m a year.

NAO comptroller and auditor general Gareth Davies said: “The January 1 deadline is unlike any previous EU exit deadline: significant changes at the border will take place and government must be ready.

“Disruption is likely and the government will need to respond quickly to minimise the impact, a situation made all the more challenging by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Transport union TSSA slammed “government incompetence which is risking jobs, frictionless trade and the ability of our citizens to travel freely.” 
 
General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “This is a damning report which will make the hearts and heads of businesses sink. 

“Our unpreparedness for Brexit is likely to hit travel and rail freight between Britain and [the] continent at a time when businesses are already struggling.

Mr Cortes said that Eurostar was “already on its knees, the travel trade in a mess and rail freight also struggling.”

“The last thing we need is a bureaucratic mess, massive delays and extra costs at our borders,” he warned. 

Labour MP Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “The government simply hasn’t given businesses enough time to prepare. And a huge amount still needs to be done to implement the Northern Ireland protocol.

“It’s incredibly worrying that, with two months to go, critical computer systems haven’t been properly tested. 

“The government can only hope that everything comes together on the day but this is not certain.”

A government spokesman said that it was making “significant preparations” for the end of the transition, investing £705 million in border infrastructure, staffing and technology and providing £84 million in grants to boost the customs intermediaries sector.