Released ‘Operation Yellowhammer’ docs suggest delays & rising prices in ‘worst case’ no-deal Brexit

A no-deal Brexit could mean months of border delays and rising prices of food, medicine and electricity, according to a document released by the British government detailing its “worst case” scenario plans for leaving the EU.

Losing out to opposition MPs in a vote earlier this week, the government was forced to publish the six-page document on Wednesday. It frames the Brexit preparations, dubbed “Operation Yellowhammer,” and lays out a number of projections for what a no-deal exit could mean.

The document covers 20 “worst case planning assumptions,” including price increases and supply disruptions in fuel, medicine, food and electricity – which it predicts will “disproportionately” affect “low-income groups.”

A “rise in public disorder” is also expected in the case of a no-deal Brexit, which will “take place across the UK and may absorb significant amounts of police resource [sic].”

Between 50 and 85 percent of heavy goods vehicles, or large trucks, “may not be ready for French customs” on the first day after the UK departs from the EU, suggesting severe disturbances in the transport of goods across borders, the document adds.

One paragraph in the small trove of documents was redacted due to “commercial sensitivity,” according to Sky News.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the precise form Brexit will take, the doc also notes that public and business readiness “remain at a low level,” which it said will be worsened by “increasing EU exit fatigue.”

The Shadow Secretary for Brexit, Kier Starmer, assailed the government for risking an EU departure without a deal, echoing criticisms from a number of opposition lawmakers.

“These documents confirm the severe risks of a no-deal Brexit, which Labour has worked so hard to block,” Starmer said after seeing the documents, adding that the government has been “completely irresponsible” for ignoring “stark warnings.”

The UK was set to exit the EU on October 31, but a law passed by opposition MPs last week – joined by rebels from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own Conservative Party – forces the government to ask Europe for another delay until an agreement is reached on trade, immigration, borders and residency, among other issues, in a post-Brexit world.

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