THE scale of the UK’s No Deal contingency planning emerged last night, with a raft of measures to keep supply chains open — and protect fishing.
Boris Johnson has kicked off a huge operation for when we break off ties with the EU in less than three weeks.
Boris Johnson has kickstarted a massive operation to protect fishing in preparation for No Deal Brexit
The extensive operation will combine The Royal Navy, the police, border guards and customs officials to ‘keep goods and people moving smoothly’
Most of the action will be centred on the port of Dover — main gateway to Europe used by 11,000 trucks a day. Government insiders admit there will be “challenges and bumps to overcome” when Brexit finally happens on January 1.
But a source close to Cabinet Office supremo Michael Gove insisted: “No one needs to worry about our food, medicine or vital supplies. We have invested enough at the border to keep goods and people moving smoothly and make our country safer and more secure.”
In one of the biggest peacetime operations, the combined forces of the Royal Navy, police, border guards and customs officials will keep Britain moving. The extensive operation will include:
- Up to 900 extra officials to man the border, checking lorries and enforcing new import controls.
- Opening a 27-acre lorry park off the M20 in case of truck tailbacks caused by lengthy border checks at Dover.
- Drafting hundreds of extra police into Kent from around the country to stop smugglers and migrants exploiting the situation.
- Four Royal Navy vessels deployed off the coast to stop French trawlers fishing in British waters.
- Spotter planes and satellite surveillance to look out for further fishing infringements.
- More than 20 new helpline numbers for tourists, businesses and other sectors needing advice.
- Cancelling Christmas leave for senior officials in some sensitive and important roles.
The PM gave the go-ahead for ministers to start cranking up the operation as trade talks remained deadlocked in Brussels, despite Mr Johnson’s dinner with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last week.
EU chiefs have still refused to budge over the two main stumbling blocks — their refusal to let the UK set its own standards under a trade deal and demanding access to British fishing waters. Hundreds of UK officials have been preparing for the worst for more than a year and soon their master plan will swing into action.
An extra 1,100 Dover customs and border staff are set to be recruited by March. But officials will have to move quickly and decisively to tackle problems the second they arise after Brexit is finalised on December 31.
Mr Gove has been overseeing a series of dummy runs for the past year. He has set out plans which map out every single foreseeable scenario with minister-approved courses of action which can be quickly implemented in a crisis.
Most of the action will be centred on the port of Dover, the main gateway to Europe used by 11,000 trucks a day
The PM gave the go-ahead for ministers to start the operation as his dinner with Ursula von der Leyen left trade talks deadlocked
A plan has been drawn up to fast track between 70 and 100 lorries of perishable goods per day in the event of long tailbacks. It has been dubbed the “fish and chicks” system because food movement would be limited to fresh Scottish seafood for French restaurants and day old chicks for poultry farms.
A senior Government source said: “These plans work in real life — not just on paper. We’ve run live exercises, moving fresh produce and fish across the border, and scrambled naval vessels to respond to threats of illegal fishing in our soon-to-be sovereign waters.
“We’ve tested our traffic management plans and are confident that we have the tools to mitigate disruption at the border which will inevitably occur in the early weeks as traders adjust to the new requirements.”
The four Navy vessels deployed to protect UK fishing grounds have cannons and machine guns. They will be given power to arrest French and other EU fishermen who illegally enter Britain’s waters if there is no deal.
Top brass have put 14,000 personnel on standby to help with the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and any bad turn of weather.
The Navy’s fleet of cadet training ships could also be pressed into service with the “Cod Squad” to protect British fishing grounds up to 12 miles off the coastline. Commando raiding teams are poised to use inshore patrol boats to board foreign super-trawlers found trespassing in UK waters.
Former First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord West, warned of a “punch-up” on the high seas but insisted the Government is right to prepare for the worst. However, ex-Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons defence committee, branded the Naval threat “irresponsible”.
Meanwhile, French MEP Pierre Karleskind, chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, called for calm. He said: “The creation of the French Royal Navy was done in 1294 in response to naval battles between French and English fishermen. So this is a long, long history between our two nations.
Admiral Lord West warned of a ‘punch-up’ on the high seas and said the Government is right to prepare for the worst
French MEP Pierre Karleskind hit back saying the issue wasn’t only fishing but also ‘the control of the border, especially the question of migrants’
Lord Patten, former Cabinet minister and European commissioner, blasted the PM saying: ‘I fear for what will happen economically’
“You’re saying it’s about fish but let’s think just a few seconds. Do you really think it’s only about fish that navy ships are used and will be used? I don’t think so. I think there are other interests like the control of the border, especially the question of migrants.”
Lord Patten, a former Cabinet minister and European commissioner, blasted the PM, saying: “I fear for our reputation around the world, I fear for what will happen economically.
“I hope that I’m wrong to feel so depressed about the outlook but I don’t think that Mr Johnson is a Conservative, I think he is an English nationalist.”
