I suggest you try reading the article instead of going off on tangents.
Britain’s border security is being compromised due to a blunder caused by post-Brexit trade rules that have delayed the replacement of the UK’s Border Force fleet, The Times can reveal.
Plans to replace five cutters and six patrol vessels used to monitor Britain’s borders and pick up migrants in the Channel have been delayed until 2030 at the earliest and costs are likely to soar to £300 million — six times its original budget.
This has been caused by an inadvertent consequence of post-Brexit trading rules that dictate that government contracts must be open to international competition. The rules are designed to avoid discrimination and boost free trade, and were agreed as part of Britain’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after Britain formally withdrew from the European Union in 2020.
Liz Truss, the trade secretary at the time, failed to exclude the construction of civilian ships from the list of contracts that must be opened to global competition when she signed Britain up to the WTO’s government procurement agreement. Instead, she replicated the EU’s terms of accession to the WTO, with the only exemption applying to warships.
America, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Canada are among other major members of the body, which regulates global trade and specifically excludes “ships and small craft” from the scope of their commitments to open up government procurement to international competition.
The EU’s terms are the opposite, listing “ships, boats and floating structures, except warships” as among the contracts that must be advertised internationally and awarded without discrimination. The oversight means that the UK must tender state-funded contracts for non-military vessels to the open market.
Michael Brigo ● 97d