BRITAIN will face fuel, food and medicine shortages if it leaves the EU without a Brexit transition deal, leaked documents claim.
The worrying forecasts – compiled by the Cabinet Office – reportedly set out the most likely aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit rather than the worst case scenarios.
They said up to 85 per cent of lorries using the main channel crossings “may not be ready” for French customs, meaning disruption at ports would potentially last up to three months.
The government also believes a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic will be likely as current plans to avoid widespread checks will prove unsustainable, the Sunday Times said.
“Compiled this month by the Cabinet Office under the codename Operation Yellowhammer, the dossier offers a rare glimpse into the covert planning being carried out by the government to avert a catastrophic collapse in the nation’s infrastructure,” the paper exclusively reported.
“The file, marked ‘official-sensitive’ requiring security clearance on a ‘need to know’ basis is remarkable because it gives the most comprehensive assessment of the UKs readiness for a no-deal Brexit.”
The UK is heading towards a showdown with the EU as Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed to leave the bloc on Oct. 31 without a deal unless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit divorce.
After more than three years of Brexit dominating EU affairs, the bloc has repeatedly refused to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement which includes an Irish border insurance policy that Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, agreed in November.
Johnson will this week tell French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel that parliament cannot stop Brexit and a new deal must be agreed if Britain is to avoid leaving the EU without one.
The PM is coming under pressure from politicians across the political spectrum to prevent a disorderly departure, with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn vowing this week to bring down Johnson’s government in early September to delay Brexit.
It is, however, unclear if lawmakers have the unity or power to use the British parliament to prevent a no-deal departure – likely to be the United Kingdom’s most significant move since WWII.
Opponents of no deal say it would be a disaster for what was once one of the West’s most stable democracies.
A disorderly divorce, they say, would hurt global growth, send shockwaves through financial markets and weaken London’s claim to be the worlds top financial centre.
Brexit supporters say there may be short-term disruption from a no-deal exit but that the economy will thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed experiment in integration.
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