In early 2021, after the end of the Brexit transition period, British fishermen faced delays in exporting their catch to the European Union. On 28 January 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there were “teething problems in lots of areas,” which was “inevitable because this is a big change.”
Exporters disputed the label. Martyn Youell of Waterdance told MPs: “they’re not teething problems for us.” He called the phrase “a particularly poor choice of words.”