Free ports are tax free
The glowing future of Teeside, once it gains free port status is once again being trumpeted in the media. Firms are lining up to invest and move to the area once its new status is arranged.
This is not really news, if you can do your business in the UK but not pay any UK taxes, wouldn’t you move your business there? Free ports just displace economic activity and in the process they cost the Treasury a fortune. What free ports can do to encourage trade with the EU or anywhere else is hard to see, the UK is not a developing country desperate to throw tax payers money at attracting foreign firms, it used to be very good at that already.
Remember, also, that there are dozens of free ports across the EU, the UK got rid of its because they were a costly failure.
Now they are the future but if Brexit is such a triumph why does the UK have to throw more money at attracting and subsidising firms? Surely it should need to spend less?
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.