This archive report was first published on 18 August 2019.
Leaked government documents have revealed that Britain is heading towards a constitutional crisis and a showdown with the European Union as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed to leave the bloc on October 31 without a deal unless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit divorce.
According to the Sunday Times, the forecasts compiled by the Cabinet Office set out the most likely aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit rather than the worst-case scenarios. The government believes that 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.
Up to 85% of trucks using the main channel crossings may not be ready for French customs, meaning disruption at ports could potentially last up to three months before the flow of traffic improves, the Times reported.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said it did not comment on leaked documents. However, Brexit minister Stephen Barclay said on Twitter that 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.
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.
Opponents of no deal say it would be a disaster for what was once one of the West's most stable democracies, while Brexit supporters say there may be short-term disruption but that the economy will thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed experiment in integration.
