Britain has 'wasted' £5bn on post-Brexit border checks that will be useless when Burnham signs deal to take EU rules on food and drink

Billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been spent on post-Brexit border checks that are set to be scrapped under Andy Burnham's 'reset' deal with the EU.The Prime Minister is poised to sign off on a series of agreements at a Brussels summit later this month as part of Labour's bid for closer ties with the bloc.The centrepiece of Mr Burnham's 'reset' is expected to be a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal, under which the UK will follow EU rules on food and drink. It will remove the need for controls on food and agricultural goods crossing the Channel and the Irish Sea.This is despite the UK having spent an estimated £4.7billion on managing the passage of goods across the border following the country's exit from the EU.The boss of Britain's second-largest cross-Channel port is now demanding compensation over a £23million border facility that could be left useless by Labour's deal.Mr Burnham this week vowed to seize his Brexit 'reset' package 'with both hands' when he meets with EU leaders in Brussels on 20 November.Ahead of a UK-EU summit, a 200-page draft text for an SPS agreement is being shared among the bloc's member states. Billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been spent on post-Brexit border checks that are set to be scrapped under Andy Burnham's 'reset' deal with the EU. Mike Sellers, the boss of Portsmouth International Port, has demanded compensation for its spending on a new £23million border control post in preparation for post-Brexit checksDraft deals on emissions trading and a 'youth experience scheme' are also being circulated, alongside a 15-page joint statement for EU leaders.But concerns are growing about the price Mr Burnham is willing to pay in his attempt to move back closer to Brussels a decade on from the EU referendum.Brexiteers have warned against leaving Britain as a 'rule-taker' by again aligning with EU regulations, as fears grow that the PM will 'surrender' the country's Brexit freedoms. Mr Burnham's push to remove post-Brexit border checks comes despite the UK having ploughed vast resources in recent years into managing trade frictions with the EU.A National Audit Office report, published in May 2024, found that £4.7billion was being spent on 13 major programmes to manage the passage of goods across the border following the UK's exit from the EU.Thousands more civil servants have also been recruited to Whitehall departments, such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to deal with Brexit.Mike Sellers, the boss of Portsmouth International Port, has demanded compensation for its spending on a new £23million border control post in preparation for post-Brexit checks.He told the BBC: 'We built something that took two acres of our land - operational land that had to carry out, on average, 80 trailer checks a day - and by the time that the operating model that the government settled on in 2024, that went down to an average of two checks a day.'So it's never ever been used for the scale that it was built for.'Mr Sellers said it now looked likely the border control post would no longer be needed as a result of Labour's SPS deal, which is expected to come into force in spring 2028.He added: 'So 100 per cent we need compensation for the amount of money that's been put into this.'Steve Pitt, the Liberal Democrat leader of Portsmouth City Council, confirmed the local authority would seek to recover the £6million it also ploughed into the project.'We welcome the news this means for consumers, reducing red-tape and delays at the borders for businesses,' he said.'However, this specialist facility cost over £23million to build and, if there isn't a need for inspections to take place, we may have to consider demolishing a building that is less than four years old.'Anand Menon, a professor of politics at King's College London and the director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, outlined the costs to both businesses and the Government over 'ever-changing' post-Brexit rules.'There is more than a touch of the grand old Duke of York to all this,' he told The Times.'Ever since the referendum the government has spent billions of pounds preparing the UK for Britain's new trading relationship with Europe and helping businesses adapt.'And this is not just a cost to the taxpayer. Businesses as well are spending money and time adapting to ever-changing regulations.'A Government source said: 'The Tory Brexit deal was bad for business and bad for the country, leaving piles of red tape and extra costs.'That's why we're securing a better deal that will tear down barriers to trade and back British business and jobs.'