The border with Europe just got a little harder

Let’s be fair they couldn’t have done it yesterday, not on April Fool’s Day, no one would have believed it.

Unlike even the famous BBC gotcha, the report about the Italian spaghetti harvest, it would have been just too improbable a story to fool anyone. Which is why the British government had to wait 24 hours before introducing new border controls with the EU.

Today is the day that the UK introduces yet another post Brexit “benefit” the ETA, or Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme.

As of April 2nd all visitors to the UK from Europe who do not need a visa will need to buy an electronic permit, in advance.

Except for our friends from Ireland who enjoy freedom of movement within the British Isles and the EU too – the luck of the Irish, I suppose.

Each ETA is reasonably priced at £10, rising to £16 on the 9^th of April, an inflation rate of 60% a week. Let us hope that is a one off, because let’s face it, charging our European neighbours £16 per person is not really an incentive to encourage tourism or business or even the odd visit to friends and family. Which is why the ETA is really just another bit of pointless post Brexit red tape, expense and bother.

The whole thing is supposed to be seamless. There is even a smart phone app so it cannot fail, and the Home Office claims that the vast majority of applicants will get a decision in minutes. But only after they have paid up front, put in their biographical details and uploaded a photo. Nothing says Willkommen and Bienvenue like a mugshot and an entry charge, does it?

Since the whole “idea” of the scheme is to “cement our commitment to enhance security through technology and innovation”, as the government puts it, that also means that we will doubtless be turning away lots of murderers, con artists and pickpockets. If the system can recognise them that is.

Still, our European neighbours who pre-Brexit had been able to move seamlessly across Europe from the Shetlands to Salonika, even living and working where they wanted, are the lucky ones. We have been putting out the welcome mat for our American and Commonwealth cousins by charging them for quite a while now.

And just to ensure a level playing field, so to speak, the EU will finally get its act together in October and introduce its long-awaited Entry/Exit Scheme. This will involve UK citizens having to use biometrics, such as facial recognition, to connect their digital footprint with their passport before they can enter the EU.

Once in place and if it works without creating chaos at the border, the EU will then extend the system into something called ETIAS, which means all non-Schengen citizens will have to pay to enter. Currently we pay £17 to use a similar American system and I am sure the EU will want to price its red tape competitively.

Really what have we lost?

We had freedom, free movement, seamless cross border travel and the right to live and work in each other’s countries. Now we have to pay, fill in forms, wait for checks, endure delays, and get official approval just to visit each other.

If this is progress you can keep it.