Marks & Spencer’s chairman, Archie Norman, told BBC radio last month that the British government’s plan to override parts of the Northern Ireland protocol was “a triumph of common sense over rules-based mentality”. Norman, a former Conservative MP, said that, since Brexit, exports to the Republic took 30 per cent more driver time and required the employment of 13 vets in Motherwell. It has led to the retailer discontinuing 600 of its 7,000 food lines here and racking up costs of £30 million.
Once easements agreed under a grace period are lifted, the same rules will apply to goods shipped to Northern Ireland, Norman said, adding that “every piece of butter in a sandwich has to have an EU vet’s certificate”. The European Commission says
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