Brexit: PM deemed ‘reckless’ after #Yellowhammer dossier leaked

Boris Johnson’s approach to Brexit is ‘reckless’ according to Sinn Féin – of the Irish republican political party, after a leaked dossier warned of hard border and food shortages if there is no deal.

What does #Yellowhammer dossier mean?

In response to leaked Government documents published by The Sunday Times, ‘Yellowhammer’ is ‘worst-case scenario’ as Britain faces shortages of fuel, food and medicine in the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit and a hard border with Ireland.

A number 10 source told Sky news the report was ‘deliberately’ leaked by a former minster adding it ‘is from when minsters were blocking what needed to be done to get ready to leave and the funds were not available’.

Mr Gove, who is responsible for no-deal preparation, claims the document was old and Brexit planning had accelerated since Boris Johnson became PM. 

Gove says there will be some ‘bumps in the road’ if the UK leaves the EU without a deal but the country is more prepared now than in the past and some concerns about a ‘no-deal’ Brexit have been exaggerated.

Mr Johnson is to meet European leaders later this week and 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 the actual leaked document, Operation Yellowhammer, the UK could face months of disruption at its ports after a no-deal Brexit. 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 cause the following consequences:

• Fresh food becoming less available and prices rising.
• A hard-Irish border after plans to avoid checks fail, sparking protests.
• Fuel shortages.
• 2,000 jobs being lost if the government sets petrol import tariffs 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.

 The Irish party’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill accused the prime minister of treating the Northern Ireland peace process as ‘a commodity’ in EU talks, in response to the leaked document.

But Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster said she believes the leaked dossier is ‘outdated’.

“It comes from a time before Boris Johnson was prime minister, that’s the first thing to say.

“Secondly, it’s been leaked with the idea really to undermine the prime minister before he goes out to Europe and meets European leaders this week”.

Photo: Boris Johnson | Photo credit: Chatham House via Flickr under licence (CC BY 2.0)