Brexit: Critical no-deal plans running late

A third of the government’s most critical no-deal Brexit plans are behind schedule, ministers have admitted, as they blamed business for ignoring warnings about the need to prepare. In a bleak assessment of the economic impact of no deal published yesterday, the government said that 10 per cent of all food could be subject to shortages as well as price rises. It warned that cross-Channel disruption would be increased by the failure of British companies to register for customs formalities. The paper revealed that of the 240,000 businesses that trade only with the EU, 40,000 had registered with the government to export, which would result in goods being turned back at the French border. “The lack of preparation for EU controls greatly increases the probability of disruption,” it stated.