Leaked doc shows Govt has no answer to the Irish border question
Responding to the leaked civil service document showing the Government’s failure to come up with a viable alternative to the backstop, Liberal Democrat shadow Brexit secretary Tom Brake said:
As we continue to get closer to October 31st, with Boris Johnson attempting to shutdown our democracy, this leaked document rings alarm bells. It proves the Government has no deliverable solution to the Irish border, let alone being able to find one within the next few weeks.
The fact that in this document there is not a single option that can be put forward to the EU as a viable alternative to the backstop, and that Number 10 do not want to release these findings as they know Boris Johnson’s bluff will be revealed, simply shows why MPs must come together to stop a no-deal.
By threatening a no-deal Brexit and attempting to scrap the backstop, Boris Johnson is turning his back on the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic. We cannot allow the Tories to trample on the Good Friday Agreement as they allow a hard border to be reinstated.
The Liberal Democrats will continue to do all we can to prevent a no-deal Brexit. The stakes are too high for inaction.
Public deserve better than a watered-down dodgy dossier
The Liberal Democrats have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the Cabinet Secretary, to demand clarity over whether the Operation Yellowhammer document would be a “watered-down dodgy dossier that has reportedly been drafted to suit political agendas”.
According to reports in The Sunday Times, sources familiar with the document describe the version being prepared for release to the public as “soft soap” and “neutralised”.
The Liberal Democrat Shadow Brexit Secretary, Tom Brake MP, has requested confirmation that any ministerial demand that civil servants ‘adapt the truth’ would be against the ministerial code.
Mr Brake has also asked that civil servants asked to draft this document be protected and brought before Parliament to give evidence.
Writing in his letter, Mr Brake said:
Given the serious threat of medicine and food shortages in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it is only right that the government is fully open and transparent about the detail of Operation Yellowhammer.
I am therefore writing to ask that you confirm that any ministerial demand that civil servants water down or ‘adapt the truth’ in this document would be tantamount to ministers breaking the ministerial code?
Please confirm also that civil servants do not risk being disciplined if they refuse to comply with such an unreasonable request and that they will be protected by whistle-blower legislation should a ‘sanitised’ document be released.
I am also writing to request that you provide me with the details of the senior civil servants asked to draft this document, so that they can be invited urgently to give evidence to Parliament.
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6 Comments
I hope that Jeremy Corbyn realises that the rules of the game have changed.
With a charlatan in number 10, he should not pursue the idea of an early GE. Too many people are taken in by Johnson’s bluster at the moment and it is important to expose him as the Emperor with no clothes. Yesterday’s press conference saw him rattled. His attempt at statemanship could not hide his irritation at the level of opposition he is facing.
All opposition parties should work to expose him for what he is and what he is doing. In exceptional times, we should behave in exceptional ways.
I’m afraid like many of the public, a large number of our polticians are obsessed with gaining their “precious”. In Corbyn’s case the “precious” is the keys to number 10, in Depeffels case the “precious” is five years of power, for the present cabinet the “precious” is either gaining “Brexit” ( no Lexiteers here, just a note to our poor deluded Lexiteers) or in the case of characters like Door Matt Hancock, just keeping the car. They will all have a deluded idea why gaining the ” precious” is good for us all and damm reality. Reality however will roll over us and cause much harm, but reality cares not for delusion or peoples “precious”, it is just reality and will kill delusion stone dead, often by killing the delusional ( but reality cares not a jot about that).
At a meeting last night which was also attended by our local Tory MP. He said that the technology for an open border would be with us in about 2 years. Does that mean some interim arrangement until then, which logically must mean extension of the present trading arrangements. It’s a plan, indeed it may be the only plan for an orderly exit, but can you see the ERG buying it ?
Chris,
Your Tory MP is lying, it will always just over the horizon. They will lie and lie and hope no one holds them to account, please don’t fall for the lies, we have enough of the delusional already on this site.
Having been brought up an a border county in Northern Ireland, I have great faith in the cunning of the people of the border areas on both sides when it comes to frustrating border controls. So I have minimal belief in de Pfeffel Johnson’s naiviely stating that there will be a technological answer. The question then is whether either the UK or the EU can tolerate such a porous frontier or whether harder and harder border controls can be borne, such as bureaucracy, border guards and exchange control. It was enough of a nuisance in the 1950s and got worse when security questions were added to the mix in the Troubles.
Chris Cory:
“… our local Tory MP. He said that the technology for an open border would be with us in about 2 years.
I hope you responded that, since he is so certain that it will not be needed, there can be no objection to the backstop.