The new figures show the value of UK exports to the EU increased by 8.1% and is now at their highest level since records began.
International delivery expert ParcelHero warns that Britain's NI Protocol override bill will likely derail trade once again.
The Northern Ireland Protocol override bill, which is likely to create a new EU-UK rift, was published on the same day that new government figures reveal a record boom in trade with the EU. ParcelHero, international delivery expert, says Britain's EU exports broke all previous records in April. Export sales to our largest trading partner increased by 8.1%, according to UK manufacturers and retailers.
ParcelHero's head of consumer research, David Jinks M.I. According to the Office for National Statistics ONS UK trade results, exports to the EU reached 16.4 billion in April 2022. Since the records began in 1997, that is the highest level in current prices. Exports to the EU increased by 1.2 billion dollars over March and have now climbed three consecutive months.
Today s go-it- alone Northern Ireland Protocol bill could very seriously jeopardise relations with the EU once again, just as trade returns to full health after the chaos of Brexit. The EU says that it is against international law to stop parts of the Brexit trade agreement, which deals with the flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
As our trade figures returned to health, the UK returned to its blinkered, belligerent approach to negotiations. There are several proposals that are likely to incense the EU, including removing the European Court of Justice's role on arbitrating trade disputes. That is a move based on pure ideology. Northern Ireland businesses will get the same tax breaks as those elsewhere in the UK, which will confuse EU tax regulations as Northern Ireland has to be part of the EU sales tax structure to avoid a trade border within the island of Ireland.
No one is denying the flaws in the Northern Ireland Protocol. The raft of new checks on food, goods and parcels it would need to be enforced to the letter of the law is pointless. The ideas for a Green Channel for goods not entering the Republic are worth discussing. The rules need to be changed and the EU has put forward several proposals. This is the wrong time to explode a grenade just as the UK-EU trade starts to normal. A negotiated settlement with the EU is a better solution than heavy tactics such as new go-it alone legislation.