The Prime Minister announced plans to create 10 so-called ‘free ports’ across the UK. Free ports are an area of a country where taxes and tariffs do not apply, which means traders can import goods, store them and re-export them without bothering the tax collectors. Boris Johnson previously called Free Ports an “excellent way to boost business and trade”.
Mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen has been campaigning for this style of trading as he says it will help create more than 70,000 jobs for Teesside after Britain leaves the EU on October 31 – without the interference of the EU.
The jobs are especially needed as employment has dropped since the SSI steelworks site closed in 2015.
He said: “Free Ports have the potential to turbocharge our regional economy after Brexit, bringing desperately-needed jobs, growth and investment here and making us a magnet for even more international investment.
“This is a game changing opportunity to reshore manufacturing jobs we haven’t seen in this country for decades to the former Redcar steelworks site.
Boris Johnson has said he will create 10 ports across the UK (Image: GETTY)
Mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen is hoping the north east region will get a free port (Image: GETTY)
“As we leave the EU and reclaim our place as an open, outward-looking trading nation once more, a Free Port would be beyond transformational for our region, helping us build our current strengths in chemical processing, energy and logistics industries.”
Jerry Hopkinson, chief operating officer of PD Ports, agreed Teesside will “reap the benefits” from the free port concept.
He told Gazette Live: “We’ve got a river which is one of the deepest in the UK.
“It’s got a huge amount of surplus capacity on it and we’re handling about 30m tonnes a year on the River Tees. We believe we can handle way in excess of that.
The SSI steelworks in Redcar closed down in 2015 (Image: GETTY)
“In its recent past, the river has handled almost 55m tonnes of cargo – and it had a lot of surplus capacity then.
“So we’ve got a freely workable, very open river.
“We’ve also got a port which is modern, progressive and growing with some fantastic infrastructure within it and that port acts as a gateway into 4,500 acres of land, with the thick end of 2,700 acres on the former steelworks site.
“That land is ready for redevelopment – so you’ve got a river with massive capacity, a port acting as a gateway into that land bank – and that’s on the south side of the river alone.
READ MORE: North East to become Singapore-style trading hub after Brexit
Tees Port could be one of the 10 areas of the UK selected to become a free port (Image: GETTY)
Mr Houchen is hoping Teesside will get a Singapore-style trading hub to create thousands of jobs (Image: GETTY)
“If you look at the land bank on the north side there’s a lot more there.”
At Tees Port on Friday, announcing a ‘Free Ports Commission’ where ports and airports across the country will be invited to bid to become one of the 10 that are chosen, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss
said the north-east region was “ahead of the game” to become one of the bids being accepted.
She said: “What we’re talking about here is attracting new jobs into the country as a whole by doing things differently – and not being subject to some of the bureaucracy and rules that have held businesses back.
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“I speak to lots of businesses frustrated by the level of red tape and I also think this area with its specific skills in engineering, onshoring and wind turbine production, and the technology around ports themselves, would all be opportunities for Teesside specifically.
“We transformed London’s Docklands since the Eighties into Canary Wharf by giving that area new freedoms to do things differently – it’s now one of the world’s main trading centres.
“I think we can do that on Teesside. I absolutely do.”
Newcastle’s Port of Tyne is also expected to bid to become a Free Port.
Matt Beeton, Port of Tyne chief executive officer, said: “We welcome the announcement today from the Trade Secretary and look forward to progressing our Free Port application.”
During a hustings for Tory party members in Northern Ireland last month, Mr Johnson said: “We could do free ports, if the UK leaves the European Union as scheduled on October 31.
Liz Truss had positive words to say when she visited Tees Port last week (Image: GETTY)
“It would be a massive boost to this economy, but only once we come out.
“I will have about six of them, by the way. We should definitely be doing free ports and tax-free zones. They have delivered around the world.
“I think there are around 130 countries that have them.
“We don’t, because of our membership of the EU. And there are plainly areas that would benefit from them.”
Mr Johnson called Free Ports an “excellent way to boost business and trade” (Image: GETTY)
But not everyone is convinced Free Ports will create new jobs in the North East.
Labour MEP Jude Kirton-Darling wrote on her website: “This might sound like a good idea on paper, but free ports have also attracted a lot of criticism; by their very nature they help business avoid tax and give specific businesses in certain areas an advantage over others.
“The North East has many manufacturing companies that are dependent on imports and exports. If a free port was established on Teesside, would this create more jobs for the region? Or just shift jobs from across the North East into one area?
“An area where they pay less tax and basic worker protections and health and safety standards may not apply.”
