Boris Johnson Could Break the Law over Brexit in the Name of Cheap Wine

The government’s latest wheeze is all about cigarettes and alcohol

Last night, HM Treasury announced that in the event of a no deal Brexit — and a no deal Brexit only — “beer, wine, spirits and cigarettes will all be duty free for people travelling to the EU if we leave without a deal.” This applies only to goods bought in stipulated “duty free” shops — largely found at airports — and is a trade off with current regulations which allow practically unlimited purchase of wine, beer, and cigarettes in regular shops in EU countries. That limit will shrink, if Brexit goes ahead, to 16 litres of beer / 4 litres of wine / 200 cigarettes, so the “duty free” promise significantly worsens travellers’ ability to bring home goods; the promise of “duty free” also fails to account for the fact that if duty is paid in the EU, it is not levied again in the U.K. The final, most obvious thing, is that for now at least, a no deal Brexit on 31 October would be unlawful.

And in other news...

• Here are the best-value restaurants in east London.
• Great British Bake Off bread week was just a giant excuse for Paul Hollywood to make bad jokes about baps.
• Summer is over, and London’s restaurants are leaning into autumn hard.
• First a single bean, and then a single wotsit: one more multi-pack letdown and it’s a trend, or perhaps a conspiracy. [Mirror]
• Good tweet: