# Billions squandered on post-Brexit food checks as red tape finally faces axe

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/billions-squandered-on-post-brexit-food-checks-as-red-tape-finally-faces-axe/
- Published: 2026-11-05T12:23:29+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T13:55:08+00:00
- Original publisher: GB News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.gbnews.com/politics/brexit-billions-squandered-food-checks-red-tape
- Topics: Culture, Europe, Food, Geopolitics, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- A proposed UK-EU food deal could make costly border-check preparations unnecessary.
- The National Audit Office puts border-project spending at £4.7 billion.
- Portsmouth’s facility handles about two checks a day, against an original plan for 80.

## Summary

The article says billions of pounds spent preparing for post-Brexit food and border checks may be wasted if a proposed UK-EU food deal removes many of those controls. The deal is expected after a UK-EU summit later this month, with the Prime Minister arguing that closer alignment with EU food rules could add up to 0.4 per cent to GDP.

The National Audit Office estimates £4.7 billion was spent on 13 border-related projects over seven years, including customs systems and food checks. The article cites around £800 million for sanitary and phytosanitary infrastructure, £750 million over three years for the Windsor framework, and hundreds of millions for exporters; Defra also hired 3,000 additional staff. Portsmouth’s port built a facility with £17 million in government funding and £6 million from the council, but checks fell from an expected 80 trailers a day to about two.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.