Time and resources well spent by a country with no other problems to deal with whatsoever
After months of stockpiling food, toilet paper and bodybags, the prospect of a no deal Brexit appears to be dead in the water after civil servants were reportedly told to stop planning for it.
Last night, Theresa May left an EU summit with an extension on the Article 50 deadline to October, over six months after Brexit’s initial end date of March 29.
A letter seen by Sky News indicates that no preparations for walking away from the European Union without an agreement on the divorce deal or future relationship will be made from this point onwards.
Their Whitehall source says: “In common with the rest of government, we have stood down our no-deal operational planning with immediate effect.
“This morning, at a meeting chaired by the cabinet secretary, we agreed that the objective is to ensure we wind down our no-deal planning in a careful, considered and orderly way.”
NEW: I Understand govt depts have "stood down" their no deal planning, as of today.
Permanent Secretary of frontline Brexit dept sends staff email which says: ""In common with the rest of government, we have stood down our No Deal operational planning with immediate effect."
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) April 11, 2019
The exact amount spent on no deal Brexit planning tallies into the billions with notorious examples including Chris Grayling’s lorry car park to simulate the Dover-Calais border crossing and the mass purchase of fridges to keep stockpiled medicines fresh for use.
It had been favoured by members of the Conservative Party’s European Research Group but warnings from business and government figures were rife, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill describing the potential economic implications as worse than the 2008 crash.
In response to this news, Brexiteers and remainers have lined up to give their take on the government’s approach.
Tory MP Owen Paterson called it “beyond stupid!” with Change UK’s Anna Soubry tweeting that it was “about ruddy time!” in just a snapshot of the polarising hellscape Brexit has made British politics.
Either way, parliament decided to declare that school’s out today and gave themselves an Easter holiday until April 23. Well earned.
