No-deal Brexit dossier shows worst-case scenario – Gove
This article makes me worry on a number of counts about how vulnerable rural England, host to ports and freight corridors, is to a no deal brexit. It tells us:
A leaked cross-government study warning of the impact of a no-deal Brexit outlines a “worst-case scenario”, cabinet minister Michael Gove has said.
Details from the dossier warn of food and medicine shortages if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Mr Gove, who is responsible for no deal preparation, said “very significant steps” had been taken to boost Brexit planning since Boris Johnson became PM.
The leak comes as Mr Johnson is to meet European leaders later this week.
The prime minister will insist there must be a new Brexit deal when he holds talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Operation Yellowhammer, the dossier leaked to the Sunday Times, the UK could face months of disruption at its ports after a no-deal Brexit.
And plans to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are unlikely to prove sustainable, it adds.
The dossier says leaving the EU without a deal could lead to:
Fresh food becoming less available and prices rising
A hard Irish border after plans to avoid checks fail, sparking protests
Fuel becoming less available and 2,000 jobs being lost if the government sets petrol import tariffs to 0%, potentially causing two oil refineries to close
UK patients having to wait longer for medicines, including insulin and flu vaccines
A rise in public disorder and community tensions resulting from a shortage of food and drugs
Passengers being delayed at EU airports, Eurotunnel and Dover
Freight disruption at ports lasting up to three months, caused by customs checks, before traffic flow improves to 50-70% of the current rate