Scotland’s Brexit Minister has called for the release of official warnings of food and medicine shortages in after Brexit.
Leaked documents from the UK civil service set out an Armageddon scenario, as well as one ranked “severe”, where Scottish and Cornish supermarkets run out of food in days following a split with the EU.
A senior civil servant is reported to have said the severe scenario would see hospitals run out of medicine within a fortnight, leading to emergency RAF transports and petrol pumps quickly running dry.
A Downing Street spokesman did not deny the existence of the reports but insisted “none of this will happen”.
“We know that none of this will happen,” he said.
“We have always been clear we are planning for all scenarios and we will be fully prepared.
“We are equally clear that we are working towards a deal because it’s in the interests of both sides.”
The documents are understood to be an assessment prepared for the inter-ministerial group on preparedness by civil servants from multiple Whitehall departments, including the Department for Exiting the EU (DexEU), health and social care and transport.
Now Scotland’s Brexit Minister Michael Russell has called for Brexit Secretary David Davis to make the so-called Doomsday assessment public.
“The UK Government must now make a categorical commitment that it will rule out a no deal outcome,” he said.
“The picture the article paints of the immediate adverse consequences for supplies of food, medicines and fuel is alarming but not at all surprising for those of us who have been warning of the dangers of complacency about no deal scenarios.
“It cannot be right to expect the public to support Brexit as a matter of blind faith in a climate where talk of risks or adverse consequences is suppressed. Nor should decisions about the UK’s approach to be taken without fully informed democratic scrutiny.
“The article also highlights the need for the devolved governments to be fully involved in the UK Government’s contingency planning. Food security and the operation of the health service and the Scottish transport system are central to the responsibilities of the Scottish Government.”
Best for Britain campaigner Jo Stevens MP also called for transparency, saying ministers had “something to hide”.
“Why should anyone believe what the government is saying when they won’t even release the document?” she said.
“The answer must be that they’ve got something to hide.”
