Johnson Govt Prepares for No Deal Brexit with ‘Get Ready’ Campaign

Pro-Brexit activist Joseph Afrane holds a placard as he demonstrates outside the Houses of
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

The government has launched a “Get Ready” for no deal Brexit campaign, signalling Prime Minister Johnson’s dedication to delivering on the will of the people on October 31st.

Michael Gove launched the largest ever public information campaign on Sunday, with TV advertisements, billboards, social media ads set to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

The campaign is also expected to employ online seminars, leaflets, and information stands at targetted events, with the programme and website aimed at British citizens living in or planning to visit the EU, European nationals living in the UK, those in the food and drink industry, and exporters to the EU.

Mr Gove, the cabinet minister in charge of clean Brexit preparations, said: “Ensuring an orderly Brexit is not only a matter of national importance, but a shared responsibility.

“This campaign will encourage the country to come together to Get Ready for Brexit on 31 October.”

The move by the Johnson government marks a departure from the premiership of Theresa May, who halted no-deal preparations in April after failing to deliver Brexit by March 29th, the original lawmaker-pledged Brexit date.

Boris Johnson holds out that a better deal can be struck with the EU, but since becoming prime minister, he has ramped-up no deal preparations, forming a Brexit War Cabinet and purging government roles of hardline Remainers; according to government polling, 50 per cent of Britons now believe that the prime minister will deliver Brexit by the deadline.

Mr Gove was in France on Friday to witness drills in Calais, should the UK leave the Customs Union at the end of October without a deal. The continent has been preparing for a clean exit for months, notably the northern French port which has recruited 700 extra staff and introduced new technology to ensure the smooth flow of goods between the Kent port of Dover and Calais.

Last month, the port’s chief said claims that there will be massive delays in a no deal were “bullshit”, with Jean Marc Puissesseau remarking: “The British authorities have been doing a great deal to prepare. People say they are asleep but I can assure you that they are highly professional and they are ready.”

Eurotunnel said today that it was ready for Brexit on October 31st “no matter what the outcome”. The company which runs the cross-channel railway tunnel Getlink said that it has introduced two new “pit stops” to carry out new customs checks in Coquelles in France and Folkestone in Kent, each stop able to check 20 trucks at a time for around a few minutes each.

Transport minister Grant Shapps told talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer on Sunday that the country is ready for a no deal Brexit, adding: “The country is actually a lot better prepared than most people realise.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid is also to pledge £200 million into boosting the UK’s trade capacity after Brexit, and has summoned some of the City’s leading business figures to sell them the opportunities of a no deal Brexit.

Prime Minister Johnson wrote on Friday that “The referendum result must be respected. We will leave the EU on 31st October,” and in comments directed at Remainer lawmakers, said: “We told the people we will get it done. We have a way to get it done. We’re in the last stages now of negotiating with our friends about a way to get it done. If we can’t succeed in that negotiation, we must come out anyway.”

“Parliamentarians said to the people ‘We will honour what you say. We will respect the result.’ Every single parliamentarian said that. They all said they were going to implement the result of the referendum. And then they triggered Article 50 and time and time again they promised that they would deliver on the mandate of the people and they would get Brexit done. And I hope that they will,” he added.

 

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