A shortage of food, petrol and medicine would grip the UK within weeks of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, according to secret warnings drawn up in Whitehall.
According to the Sunday Times, civil servants have put together three scenarios for a ‘no deal’ Brexit – mild, severe and ‘armageddon’
Worryingly, the warnings over supermarkets running out of food within days and petrol shortages hitting within weeks come from the ‘severe’ model – not the most apocalyptic analysis.
A source told the Sunday Times: “In the second scenario, not even the worst, the port of Dover will collapse on day one.
“The supermarkets in Cornwall and Scotland will run out of food within a couple of days, and hospitals will run out of medicines within two weeks.”
The UK would have to charter aircraft or enlist the military to move supplies to the furthest corners of the country.
The source added: “You would have to medevac medicine into Britain, and at the end of week two we would be running out of petrol as well.”
The warnings – drawn up by officials in the Brexit, health and transport departments – have reportedly been “locked in a safe” ahead of a meeting of a so-called Inter-Ministerial Group on Preparedness.
Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the documents showed senior civil servants were “frozen in the headlights” when it comes to Brexit.
The anti-EU campaigner said: “They should be planning for what happens if there is no deal, not scaring the pants off each other.
“We need people with imagination and courage, not frightened rabbits.”
A spokesperson for the Brexit department said: “These claims are completely false.
“A significant amount of work and decision making has gone into our no deal plans, especially where it relates to ports, and we know that none of this would come to pass.”
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