M&S boss slams ‘bureaucratic madness’ of products requiring ‘not for EU’ labels

Stuart Machin says labels, designed stop British goods leaking into bloc, add another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape'

The boss of Marks & Spencer has called on the government to rapidly reset relations with the EU and criticised new rules which demand extra checks and labelling on products headed from the UK mainland to Northern Ireland as bureaucratic madness".

Stuart Machin, the chief executive of M&S, which has 25 stores in Northern Ireland, said that from next week the retailer would have to label 1,000 more products destined for the UK country with not for EU" while another 400 items would require additional checks".