The harsh consequences for Ireland of a no-deal Brexit start to come into view
The Government has taken the first steps in no-deal planning, but there is a lot still to do
Britain’s prime minister Theresa May visits the UK Border Force Command Centre at Terminal 5 in London Heathrow Airport on Wednesday. Photograph: Niklas Halle’n/Reuters
A no-deal Brexit is finally looking a real possibility. And the Government papers published on Wednesday evening start to outline the stark potential hit, involving “severe macroeconomic, trade and sectoral impacts”.
Effectively, a no-deal Brexit, changing the UK’s trading relationship with the EU overnight, would bring forward the expected Brexit hit into a much shorter timescale, requiring a crisis-management response. We are warned that this will require “difficult and significant choices”.