Britain is in ‘pretty good shape’ for No Deal Brexit, Whitehall chief says — just months after his doomsday warning
BRITAIN is in “pretty good shape” for a No Deal Brexit, the country’s top mandarin has declared — just months after he gave a doomsday warning.
Sir Mark Sedwill said preparations for the UK crashing out of the EU without an agreement were among the “most impressive pieces of cross-government work” he had seen.
His comments — which back PM-in-waiting Boris Johnson’s plan to use No Deal as a threat to the EU — clash with what Sir Mark told the Cabinet in March.
A leaked letter back then showed he believed No Deal would trigger a ten per cent spike in food prices, send businesses to the wall, damage the police’s ability to keep people safe and plunge the economy into recession.
But on Thursday, speaking to the Institute for Government think tank, he said: “I think we’re in pretty good shape for it.
“We did one of the most impressive pieces of cross-government work I’ve experienced in my career to make No Deal preparations in the run-up to the [original] March-April deadline.
“Those preparations continue and we’ll be in the best possible shape we can for whatever happens.” Sir Mark, who is Cabinet Secretary, refused to say how much disruption Brits face if we leave the EU at the end of October without a deal. He claimed readiness “varied” between different industries.
And he spoke for the first time about leading the Cabinet leak inquiry that caused Defence Minister Gavin Williamson to be sacked in May.
Sir Mark said: “It wasn’t a comfortable period for anyone [but] you have to play it by the book.”
The Cabinet Office insisted Sir Mark was only talking about the civil service and public sector's readiness for No-Deal Brexit, not the country as a whole.
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