Shortages in the Uk in event of Brexit without agreement
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom will be faced with shortages of food, gasoline and medicines in case of exit from the Eu without agreement, with blockages in the ports and re-establishment of a physical border in Ireland, according to official documents published by the Sunday Times.
The Times stresses that these forecasts of the british government do not exhibit the worst-case scenario, but the impacts are most likely to “Brexit” without an agreement.
A version denied by Michael Gove, minister in charge of the preparations for the divorce. These documents, he said on Twitter, describe the worst situations and “very significant have been taken in the last three weeks to speed up the preparation of the Brexit”.
The minister of Energy, Kwasi Kwarteng, has assured Sky News that the United Kingdom would be “fully prepared” to leave the EU on October 31.
“I think that there is a lot of scaremongering in the air and that a large number of people play the card of ‘project fear”, he lamented Sunday, repeating a phrase – “Project Fear” – popularized by supporters of Brexit during the referendum campaign in 2016 to confound the warnings of the “Remainers” on the consequences of divorce with the Europeans.
“We will be perfectly prepared to leave without agreement on 31 October,” insisted the minister.
At 10 Downing Street, the Prime minister and Boris Johnson have recalled their line of conduct in case of leakage of the alleged official reports: no comment.
OPERATION YELLOWHAMMER
According to the documents published by the Sunday Times, up to 85% of the trucks crossing the Channel “might not be ready” for the French customs authorities, which means that disruptions in the ports could last up to three months before any improvement in traffic.
The government considers it also probable the recovery of a physical border between the Republic of Ireland and the british province of Northern Ireland, to the extent that the plans currently envisaged in order to avoid controls, generalized prove to be ineffective, says the Times.
“Compiled this month by the Office of the Cabinet under the code name ‘Operation Yellowhammer’, the record offers a rare glimpse into the secret plan of the government to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the country’s infrastructure,” writes the Times.
The Uk is headed for a constitutional crisis and an exit from the EU, while the british Prime minister, Boris Johnson, has promised that the country would leave the block community at the date of the 31 October, with or without an agreement.
The opposition fourbit his weapons to try to avoid, as soon as parliament is back in session, the 3 of September, this issue that is of concern to the business community.
After three years, during which the Brexit has dominated the european affairs, the bloc has repeatedly refused to return on the withdrawal agreement negotiated last November with Theresa May, including a safeguard clause (backstop), which aims to prevent the restoration of a physical border between the Republic of Ireland and the province of Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson will tell the next week to Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, as the british parliament did not have the means to oppose the rupture between the United Kingdom and the european Union.
The leader of the labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has called this week to vote on a motion of no confidence against the successor of May and set up a government “temporary and strictly limited in time” that would have the date of the Brexit beyond 31 October and would organize new elections.
(Kate Holton, William James and Guy Faulconbridge; Arthur Connan and Henri-Pierre André for French service)
