UK government now sees no-deal Brexit as ‘very real prospect’

LONDON: The UK government is stepping up preparations for leaving the European Union without new trade arrangements in place on Oct. 31, which one key adviser says will happen if the EU refuses to reopen negotiations.

“We still hope they will change their minds, but must operate on the assumption that they will not,” Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper. “No deal is now a very real prospect, and we must make sure we are ready.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson formed a war cabinet of six senior ministers to oversee revamped preparations. Gove will lead daily meetings — weekends included — of civil servants and advisers until ties with the EU are cut, the newspaper said.


Johnson’s most senior aide, Dominic Cummings, a key leader in the 2016 Brexit campaign, called advisers to the prime minister’s residence Friday night and told them Brexit will happen “by any means necessary,” the Times said. Cummings said Johnson is prepared to suspend Parliament or hold an election to thwart those who may seek to block a no-deal Brexit.

The team of senior ministers are all Brexiteers who support no deal, the Times reported. It includes Gove, Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.

However, Johnson's Conservative Party doesn't have a majority in Parliament and lawmakers have said they will try to block no deal. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he's ready for a general election at any time.

A new poll showed the Conservatives with a slim statistical lead over Labour, according to the the Sunday Express. The July 24-25 ComRes survey is the first to show a Tory lead since early March and gives the Brexit Party its lowest projected vote share since they were included in the survey in May, ComRes said.

Another poll in the Mail on Sunday put support for the Conservatives at 30% to 25% for Labour, but support would flip to a 6 percentage-point edge for Labour if the party ousted Corbyn.