BORIS Johnson has hailed the plan to put the crown stamp back on the side of pint glasses as a key success of Brexit in 2021.
In a press release put out to mark the “one-year anniversary of UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement”, the UK Government also listed the plan to bring back pounds and ounces in British shops as a benefit of leaving the EU.
Under EU rules the “Crown Stamp”, which indicated that the pint or half pint was genuine, was replaced with a European Conformity mark, but EU law never prohibited imperial measures being used alongside metric ones.
The Prime Minister said his government’s moves showed the UK was taking “advantage of the enormous potential that our new freedoms bring”.
READ MORE: The new Brexit rules coming in on January 1 – and how Scotland will be affected
Other benefits of Brexit claimed by the Tory government included “taking back control of our borders”, “striking new free trade deals”, and “securing the vaccine roll-out”.
Despite previous claims from top Tory figures, fact checkers at the BBC, experts at the Institute for Government, and the head of the UK's medicines regulator, the MHRA, all confirmed that Brexit has not helped the speed of the vaccine roll-out.
There has also been immense criticism of some of the free-trade deals struck by Johnson’s government, with fears that those with nations such as Australia and New Zealand risk scuppering the UK’s farming industry.
The Tory government further claimed that Brexit had seen the UK start “axing red tape and bureaucracy”. However, rule changes which came into force on January 1, 2022 have seen a huge rise in the amount of red tape involved in trade with the EU.
Other benefits listed included England’s move towards the legalisation of gene-edited food and further “opportunities” originally listed in a UK Government release put out in September.
Looking ahead to 2022, the Prime Minister claimed the UK would go “further and faster” to maximise the opportunities of Brexit.
He said: “A year ago today we entered our new relationship with the EU through the world’s biggest ever zero-tariff, zero-quota free trade deal - the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
“That was just the start – our mission since has been to maximise the benefits of Brexit so that we can thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country.
READ MORE: Scottish Government lists 'myriad harms' Brexit has caused Scotland
“We’ve replaced free movement with a points-based immigration system. We’ve secured the fastest vaccine rollout anywhere in Europe last year by avoiding sluggish EU processes. And from Singapore to Switzerland, we’ve negotiated ambitious free trade deals to boost jobs and investment here at home.
“But that’s not all. From simplifying the EU’s mind-bogglingly complex beer and wine duties to proudly restoring the crown stamp onto the side of pint glasses, we’re cutting back on EU red tape and bureaucracy and restoring common sense to our rulebook.
“The job isn’t finished and we must keep up the momentum. In the year ahead my government will go further and faster to deliver on the promise of Brexit and take advantage of the enormous potential that our new freedoms bring.”
The Prime Minister’s praise for the “key successes” of Brexit comes after the Scottish Government released a list outlining the “myriad harms” the exit from the EU has caused society.
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