LONDON: A £2.1 billion funding boost for no-deal Brexit preparations is part of the government’s plan to show Brussels that it will not be “business as usual” in dealing with the UK.Chancellor Sajid Javid announced the funding package, including £1.1 billion already committed to plans for October 31 and £1 billion in reserve, saying it is “vital that we intensify our planning” for the Brexit deadline.Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said Boris Johnson would not be “browbeaten” by Brussels and the European Union must realise the UK was not “frightened” of leaving.The moves came as Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned a no-deal Brexit would be an “instantaneous shock” on the economy and cautioned the pound would fall, inflation would rise and GDP would slow. The Bank has slashed its growth forecast to 1.3 per cent for both this year and next, down from the 1.5 per cent and the 1.6 per cent previously predicted.Javid said the £2.1 billion funding injection will ensure the UK is ready to leave the European Union “deal or no deal”. However, Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, called it an “appalling waste of taxpayers’ cash” and the Commons Public Accounts Committee is likely to scrutinise the funding.Some measures include £344 million for border and customs operations, £434 million to ensure vital medicines are available, £108 million to support businesses and £138 million for a public information campaign to begin in the “near future”.The funding will pay for 500 more Border Force officers, support for passport processing, improved infrastructure at ports and extra cash for Operation Brock — the plan to cope with traffic chaos in Kent.Supplies of medicines could be hit by disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit, so mitigation plans include increased freight capacity, warehousing and stockpiling. Javid said: “This additional £2.1 billion will ensure we are ready to leave on October 31 — deal or no deal.”In total the Treasury has made £6.3 billion available to prepare for Brexit including £4.2 billion this financial year alone. Johnson has ordered planning for a no-deal Brexit to be ramped up, even though he has claimed the odds of it happening are a “million to one against”.The Prime Minister sent his top Europe adviser David Frost to Brussels to deliver his message that the UK will be leaving on October 31 “whatever the circumstances”. And Commons Leader Rees-Mogg said Brussels needed to understand the difference in approach under the new Prime Minister. Speaking on his ConservativeHome podcast he said: “The new Prime Minister is somebody of considerable force of personality who is not going to be browbeaten by them.”The appointment of Vote Leave mastermind Dominic Cummings as Johnson’s senior aide was an “exceptionally important” statement, he added. “That ought to make the EU realise that it is not business as usual. It isn’t a sort of wet establishment that will go along with Brino (Brexit in name only). It is a tough-minded, clear-sighted government that will accept a decent deal, a fair deal, but will not accept a bad deal and isn’t frightened of leaving.”Critics tore into the commitment to spend billions on no-deal preparations. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairwoman Meg Hillier told PA: “The Prime Minister is carrying out megaphone diplomacy with Brussels and using taxpayers’ money to fund it.
08-02-2019, 05:39 PM
£2bn no-deal funding announced as government sends message to Brussels
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