LONDON: Britain
will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine if it leaves the European Union
without a transition deal, according to leaked official documents reported by
the Sunday Times, but whose interpretation was contested by ministers. Setting
out a vision of jammed ports, public protests and widespread disruption, the
Times said the forecasts compiled by the Cabinet Office set out the most likely
aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit rather than the worst case scenarios.

But Michael Gove,
the minister in charge of coordinating no-deal preparations, challenged that,
saying that the documents did set out a worst case scenario and that planning
had been accelerated in the last three weeks. The Times said up to 85% 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 before the flow of traffic improves.

The government
also believes a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member, will be likely as current plans to
avoid widespread checks will prove unsustainable, the 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 Times reported.

Responding to one
of the authors of the Sunday Times article on Twitter, Gove said:
"Yellowhammer is a worst-case scenario - v significant steps have been
taken in the last 3 weeks to accelerate Brexit planning." Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's office said it did not comment on leaked documents. A government
source blamed the leak on an unnamed former minister who wanted to influence
negotiations with the EU.

"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 the source, who declined to be named. Earlier, asked about
the Yellowhammer documents, energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News there
was "a lot of scaremongering around" and that Britain would be fully
prepared for an Oct 31 no-deal exit.

No turning back

The United
Kingdom is heading towards a constitutional crisis at home and a showdown with
the EU as 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.

Brexit minister
Stephen Barclay said on Twitter he had signed a piece of legislation which set
in stone the repeal of the 1972 European Communities act - the laws which made
Britain a member of the organization now known as the EU. Though his move was
largely procedural, in line with previously approved laws, Barclay said in a
statement: "This is a clear signal to the people of this country that
there is no turning back (from Brexit)."

A group of more
than 100 lawmakers wrote to Johnson calling for an emergency recall of
parliament to discuss the situation. "We face a national emergency, and
parliament must now be recalled 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 letter said. Johnson will this week tell
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the
Westminster parliament cannot stop Brexit and a new deal must be agreed if
Britain is to avoid leaving the EU without one.

The prime
minister 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 World War Two.

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
world's preeminent 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 that has led
to Europe falling behind China and the United States. - Reuters