• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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‘Former minister’ accused over no-deal planning leak

‘Former minister’ accused over no-deal planning leak

Officials close to prime minister Boris Johnson have accused a “former minister” of leaking details of Operation Yellowhammer, the contingency planning for leaving the EU without a deal, and claimed that “the entire posture of the government” has shifted in the past month.

The potential aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit, laid bare in a confidential document, include three months of chaos at ports, shortages of fuel and food, nationwide unrest and a hard border on the island of Ireland. The paper said that businesses were ill-prepared for leaving the EU without a deal due to “EU exit fatigue” resulting from the two delays to the departure date.

Downing Street insiders rebutted the document, stating that it covered the worst-case scenario for a no deal, adding that it was written under Theresa May’s leadership and plans for leaving without a deal had been ramped up since Mr Johnson became prime minister last month.

“This document is from when ministers were blocking what needed to be done to get ready to leave and the funds were not available. It has been deliberately leaked by a former minister in an attempt to influence discussions with EU leaders,” said a No10 official.

“Those obstructing preparation are no longer in government. Two billion pounds of extra funding has already been made available and Whitehall has been stood up to actually do the work through the daily ministerial meetings. The entire posture of government has changed.”

Officials also told the Financial Times that the government intended to publish new assessments of the measures required to leave the EU on October 31. A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on leaked documents.”

But Bob Kerslake, a former head of the civil service who is advising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, described the document as “credible” and “lays bare the scale of the risks we are facing with no-deal Brexit in almost every area”.

“These risks are completely insane for this country to be taking and we have to explore every avenue to avoid them,” he told the BBC.

According to the government’s internal calculations outlined in the Operation Yellowhammer document published by the Sunday Times, 50 to 85 per cent of HGVs travelling between Dover and Calais would not reach France due to lacking the proper paperwork. This would reduce the flow of lorries to 40 to 60 per cent of the current levels. These lorries would stymie the flow of traffic for at least three months.

The assessment said that the availability of fresh food might be affected by slower trade flows at Dover and medical supplies would be “vulnerable to severe extended delays”. Fuel supplies might also be disrupted if the government set import tariffs to zero and refineries would be at risk of going bust.

Operation Yellowhammer is also preparing for congestion at other key transport links around the country, including at the Eurotunnel, the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, airports and other ports.

The government is also preparing for clashes between the UK and European nations in its fishing waters. “Significant amounts of police resource” may be required to deal with protests across the country in the face of this action.

A Whitehall source told the Sunday Times that the document outlined “the most realistic assessment of what the public face with no deal. These are likely, basic, reasonable scenarios — not the worst case”.

Mr Johnson is set to travel across Europe to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron ahead of his debut on the world stage at the G7 next weekend. The prime minister will tell the leaders that unless the Irish border backstop is removed from the withdrawal agreement, he will be unwilling to engage in negotiations.

Downing Street, however, said it was not optimistic about a breakthrough. No 10 officials said that a no deal outcome was now “highly likely”.

Meanwhile, more than 100 opposition MPs have written to Mr Johnson to request parliament be reconvened early to scrutinise the government’s preparations for leaving the EU on October 31, with or without a deal.

The MPs’ letter, led by Remainers Luciana Berger, an independent, and Labour’s Stephen Doughty, was signed by Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the Westminster leaders of Scottish and Welsh nationalists and Conservatives opposed to leaving without a deal.

The MPs reference other occasions when parliament has been recalled for “times of grave economic emergency and threats to our national security”, such as the Falklands and Suez crises, as well as fuel shortages in 1974 and a spending crisis in 1968.

“This is no time for Parliament to be in recess. Waiting until September 3 when your Brexit deadline will only be a matter of weeks away is unacceptable,” the letter states.

“We face a national emergency, and Parliament must be recalled now in August and sit permanently until October 31, so that the voices of the people can be heard, and that there can be proper scrutiny of your government.”

The request for parliament to sit until the end of October will raise the prospect that MPs will attempt to cancel the traditional recess for party conferences in late September.

Downing Street is likely to dismiss the proposal, as it is focused on delivering Brexit regardless of what MPs want.