Another Brexit fiasco

A GIANT warehouse for post­Brexit border checks costing £25 million (€29 million) lies empty.

Nearly 12 months after construction was completed, the complex at Portsmouth’s international port ­ the UK’s second­busiest Channel port ­ is unused.

The UK government announced over a year ago that checks on fresh European Union imports would be delayed for the fourth time as ministers discussed how to carry out inspections.

The new border strategy will be revealed this month but meanwhile Portsmouth city council, which owns the port, has bills to pay.

The council received £17.1 million (€19.9 million) of public money but even after modifications to cut costs, Portsmouth city council, needed a loan to cover the shortfall.

Mike Sellers, director of

Saved its bacon

Portsmouth’s international port, recently told the British media that the facility has cost the city’s taxpayers £5.4 million (€6.3 million), which must be repaid.

As the council was liable for any defects in the building’s first year, it also had to pay to run the facility’s lights and freezers last summer when electricity prices were at their highest. This cost another £500,000 (€581,767).

In all the council must find £10 million (€11.6 million) to cover its debts, maintenance and the government’s changed requirements.

“We built to a design specified by the government, we did what they asked, and we built it in time,” Sellers said. “It’s frustrating.”

Supervisor raps knuckles

THE Bank of Spain homed in on the low interest rates paid on bank customers’ deposits.

In an article in its most recent Financial Stability Review, Spain’s supervisor pointed out that the country’s banks had fallen short of its expectations regarding the effects of the continuallyincreasing interest rates on clients’ savings.

Against what it described as “a backdrop of sharp monetary policy tightening,” the article studied the links between bank deposit costs and the Euribor, referring to the basic rate of interest used in lending between banks on the European Union interbank market. This is also used as a reference for setting the interest rate on other loans.

In particular, the Financial Stability Review stated that the remuneration on sight deposits ­ accounts where withdrawals can be made without notice, or after a very short period ­ was currently ‘insignificant’.

It went on to point out that of the 352 basis points ­ equivalent to 3.5 per cent ­ that the Euribor increased in 2022, only 0.7 per cent was

DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS: Interest too low, Bank of Spain said.

PROPERTY developer, British Land, which has been hit by rising interest rates. was relegated from the First Division, in other words London’s FTSE 100.

In contrast, online groceries group Ocado managed to hold on during the latest quarterly review of the 100 most highly­capitalised companies. This automatically relegates any falling below 110th position.

Ocado, the worst­performing FTSE 100 company so far this year, was on the brink of ejection until a last­minute recovery of its share price allowed it to retain its position. The company’s shares have plummeted by 85 per cent since September 2020, when demand for home groceries deliveries soared during the pandemic.