Former minister accuses Number 10 of withholding ‘no deal’ Brexit plans
2 min read
A former minister has accused Downing Street of withholding details of its plans on how to handle a no deal Brexit.
Number 10 has confirmed that 70 documents outlining the Government's preparations will be issued in August and September.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "What these notices are about are making sensible preparations, so that if we do end up in the unlikely scenario of no deal we can implement that in an orderly way.
"I would say this about good planning and taking sensible precautions and absolutely nothing else."
But Steve Baker, who resigned as Brexit minister in protest at the white paper agreed by the Cabinet at Chequers three weeks ago, accused ministers of a "damaging delay".
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's spokesman was also forced to deny reports that the Government is preparing to use the Army to ensure food and medicine supplies are deployed if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Mr Baker said that was further proof that the Government was losing control of the Brexit narrative.
Whitehall’s Brexit preparations have been under the spotlight in recent days after it emerged that the Government is stockpiling medicines and food in case of disruption to supply chains.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe