Brexit flotilla: Cabinet member proposes hiring ships to feed public in case of no-deal chaos

A no-deal Brexit could force the UK to charter ships to bring in food, medicines and other essential supplies. The drastic plans proposed to the cabinet should France block the Dover-Calais sea route.

The Financial Times reported that David Lidington, the cabinet office minister, briefed an increasingly fractured cabinet that the Dover-Calais route could be running at as low as 12 percent capacity if no UK-EU trade deal is achieved by March 2019.

Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, reportedly proposed a solution in which entire ships could be hired to transport essentials to the British mainland, avoiding the Dover-Calais bottleneck.

The English Channel, among other borders, will potentially become blocked under a no-deal Brexit as the UK and EU would be in different customs jurisdictions; imports and exports requiring checks before they can reach their destination.

“Whatever we do at our end, the French could cause chaos if they carry out check at their end,” said a government official, quoted in the FT. “Dover-Calais would be the obvious pinch point. The French would say they were only applying the rules.”

An anonymous source, briefed on the plans, told the FT: “The idea of the government running ferry services is slightly farcical.”

The increasingly alarming rhetoric to come out of cabinet meetings, doesn’t look set to end, as divisions in the meeting lead to “an almighty row,” according to one witness. Prime Minister Theresa May said there would now be weekly cabinet discussion in which preparations for either no-deal or deal Brexit are discussed.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab admitted in July that the UK must guarantee “adequate food supply” in case of a no-deal. Later confirming that the government is making plans to stockpile food.

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