Dutch reveal they hired THREE TIMES as many customs staff as UK in preparation for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit
The Home Office admitted it had only recruited just 300 extra Border Force staff for Brexit
MINISTERS were shamed yesterday as the Dutch revealed they had already hired THREE TIMES as many customs staff as the UK to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.
The Dutch Parliament’s Brexit liaison officer said the Netherlands had brought in “almost 1,000 officials just in case Britain crashes out”.
The officer, Pieter Omtzigt, revealed he had pushed the button on the hiring spree a year ago – in case of a “chaotic Brexit”.
It came as the Home Office admitted it had only so far recruited 300 extra Border Force staff specifically for Brexit.
The staff are still being trained and will not be ready to be “deployed” until later this summer, a spokesman said.
In contrast, France has announced it will hire an extra 700 customs’ officers to police its ports on the English Channel after Brexit.
Some 250 of these are in training to be deployed at ports such as Calais, Dunkirk and the Eurostar terminals.
Neighbouring Belgium –which has a major port at Zeebrugge – has started hiring at least an extra 140 customs officers.
It also has plans to deploy a SUBMARINE to examine ships in the North Sea.
Officials said the new recruits will begin training within a matter of weeks and will all be ready for duty by the time the UK leaves the EU in March.
Brexit-backing MPs said the numbers defied belief and demanded Theresa May and the Chancellor step up their contingency plans.
Ex-Brexit Minister David Jones told The Sun: “We need to step it up and make it visible. It would put the fear of God into the EU.
“We need more Border Force staff and we need to have the bulldozers in at Dover clearing the way for vast customs warehouses.”
He added: “The thing is when I was a Minister we had 300 workstreams in place preparing for a No Deal. The Government has never decided to say enough about the planning that has been done.”
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In a statement last night, the Home Office said Border Force had also begun “ formal engagement” with ports to ensure operators consider the potential impact of Brexit on their infrastructure.
A spokesman added that a rolling programme to hire 1,000 Border Force officers – to plug existing vacancies - would help bolster the Brexit workforce. There is “no specific completion date” for this recruitment programme.