The additional charges on food imports that started on 30th April will bring in additional revenue on imports of food such as fish, salami, sausage, cheese and yoghurt. This has been targeted at the middle classes as poor people only eat chips and turnips.
The Common User Charge brought in by the UK government applies a charge on imports of animal products, plants and plant products entering the UK from the EU through the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. This includes charges on fish, salami, sausage, cheese and yoghurt.
A government spokesperson has said that a lot of careful thought went into this plan to ensure that poor people struggling with the current cost of living crisis were not affected. After a lot of research he said that, “we know that poor people prefer to eat chips, crisps and turnips so they won’t be affected by these coats being passed on”.
The charge has been introduced to pay for border inspections and to fund facilities in Kent to enhance biosecurity to help prevent the import of plant and animal disease into the UK. Such a charge would not have been permissible while the UK was in the EU.