Boris Johnson ignored civil servants' Brexit advice

Philip Rycroft, the former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the EU from 2017-19, said that the only surprise about the UK Government committee report that found evidence of any benefit lacking was that it would come as a surprise to anyone.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was warned time and again over what would happen.

“There are some domains of regulation where we could do better [than pre-Brexit], but on the whole, all of that is overshadowed by this bigger impact of loss of competitive advantage we’ve got by coming out of the single market and having this new trade border put in place with our most important trade partner,” Mr Rycroft said in a BBC interview.

There was never a plethora of benefits to this kind of exit, he added. Mr Johnson, as we know, claimed otherwise.

Businesses continue to suffer because of Brexit, MPs said.

The cross-party Public Accounts Committee found that only £6.7 million of the £20m set aside for smaller firms had been claimed, because of the red tape involved.

Business editor Ian McConnell said in his Called to Account column that a spotlight has been shone once again this week on the yawning gulf between what the Brexiters promised and the reality of their folly, with publication of the key report.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the UK Parliament’s oldest select committee, summed the situation up well as its report concluded “it is clear that EU exit has had an impact” on UK trade volumes and that “new border arrangements have added costs to business”.

She said one of the great promises of Brexit was freeing British businesses to give them the headroom to maximise their productivity and contribution to the economy, “yet the only detectable impact so far is increased costs, paperwork and border delays”.

A Scottish company that moved to ramp up production of its Covid test for a UK Government contract that was later abandoned by Whitehall has described the less than favourable outcome.

Omega Diagnostics has agreed to sell its diagnostic test kit manufacturing business and facility in Alva for £1 million, reports Kristy Dorsey.

Jag Grewal, chief executive of Omega, said that it is “hugely disappointing that having acted in good faith to establish UK manufacturing for Government-issued Covid tests, we find that these tests are, in the main, sourced from China instead”.

A spokesperson for the UK Health Security Agency said: “Manufacturers that are unsuccessful in completing the evaluation process are not eligible for procurement. We remain committed to supporting British manufacturers and suppliers, and the UK diagnostics sector as a whole, wherever possible.”

There may be better prospects for some sectors coming out of coronavirus. Scott Wright asks in his column this week whether we are approaching a new golden age for Scotch whisky.

“There is certainly plenty of evidence to support those who contend that the fortunes look good for Scotland’s national drink.”

As pressure mounts over rising energy costs, Mark Williamson says the chief executive of an oil and gas giant with a big North Sea business may have helped make the case for a windfall tax on firms operating in the area even as he tried to undermine the notion.

From the Office for National Statistics

The ONS: “Following the large 9.4% fall in 2020 because of the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and public health restrictions, UK GDP saw an annual rise of 7.5% in 2021.”

According to OECD figures, the 9.4% fall was the steepest of all the G7 countries, and nearly double the US, which fell 3.4% and Germany which fell 3.6%. Italy's GDP fell 8.9% in 2020.