BRITAIN faces a three-month meltdown at its ports, a hard Irish border and shortages of food, fuel and medicine if it leaves the EU without a deal, leaked UK Government documents reveal.
The severe disruption could also spark public protests on the streets.
The papers detailing “Operation Yellowhammer” set out the "most likely aftershocks" of a no-deal Brexit.
"This is not Project Fear,” declared a senior Whitehall source. “This is the most realistic assessment of what the public face with no-deal. These are likely, basic, reasonable scenarios; not the worst case."
The documents, marked “official-sensitive,” set out what could happen if the UK crashes out without a withdrawal agreement on October 31. This includes:
*medical supplies being “vulnerable to severe extended delays”;
*the availability of fresh food being reduced and prices rising;
*traffic jams caused by months of border delays hitting supplies of fuel;
*as many as eight out of 10 lorries using the main Channel crossings “may not be ready” for French customs and could face delays of more than two days;
*significant disruption at ports will last for up to three months before the flow of traffic “improves” to up to 70 per cent of the current rate;
*passenger delays at EU airports, on Eurostar and at Dover;
*potential clashes breaking out between UK and European Economic Area fishing vessels with predictions more than 280 ships will sail in British waters illegally on Brexit day;
*public protests across the UK, which may “require significant amounts” of police resources and
*rising costs will hit social care.
The papers say the public and businesses remain largely unprepared for a no-deal outcome; that growing “EU exit fatigue” has hampered contingency planning, which it suggests has stalled since the UK’s original departure date of March 29.
Meanwhile, Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner, claimed that the Government "unequivocally" accepted it could not close down the UK Parliament to allow a no-deal Brexit.
She told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "What they have said is unequivocally they accept that to close down Parliament to bypass them in terms of Brexit - stopping a no-deal Brexit in particular - is illegal. So, without having to go to court they've conceded we've basically called their bluff."
But Ms Miller said that while the Government had given a reassurance that Parliament would not be prorogued, she said she would be seeking further reassurances that MPs would be able to pass legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.
"At the moment, Parliament has to find a way - instruments and ways - of ensuring that they can pass that legislation, scrutinising - which is what the Government letter has confirmed - that Parliament will be able to scrutinise and examine all options when it comes to exiting is not the same as giving them the ability to pass legislation.
"And because we already have in legislation that October 31 is our exit day, they need to pass other legislation to prevent no-deal or to change that date after an extension," she added.
Elsewhere, a YouGov survey suggested that almost half of Britons – 48 per cent - would prefer to see the UK leave the EU without a Brexit deal and Mr Corbyn not become prime minister rather than him entering Downing Street and holding a second referendum.
The poll of 1,968 people taken between Thursday and Friday suggested just over a third – 35 per cent - would, when faced with the choice, want the Labour leader to enter No 10 and hold another referendum. The remaining 17 per cent said they were unsure either way.
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