Javid doubles No Deal fighting fund to £2bn

He releases cash for borders, passports and advertising blitz

SAJID Javid turned on the spending taps last night to help Britain prepare for a potential No Deal.

In the latest sign of the Government’s determination to take Britain out of the EU on time, the Chancellor has sanctioned the release of £2.1billion to fund emergency preparations, including beefing up controls at the border.

The funds increase overall No Deal spending by 50 per cent to £6.3billion, and double the amount that can be spent this year. Mr Javid’s measures include:

■ 500 Border Force guards;

■ Extra warehousing to stockpile medicines;

■ Cash for additional lorry parking capacity to ‘manage traffic disruption in Kent’;

■ Increased capacity at the Passport Office;

■ £108million to help businesses prepare;

■ £138million for a publicity campaign;

■ £1billion for last-minute contingencies.

Last night, Mr Javid said he was determined that preparations for a possible No Deal would not be held back by lack of funds.

He added: ‘With 92 days until the UK leaves the European Union it’s vital that we intensify our planning to ensure we are ready.

‘We want to get a good deal that abolishes the anti-democratic backstop. But if we can’t, we’ll have to leave without one.

‘This £2.1billion will ensure we are ready to leave on October 31 – deal or No Deal.’

Mr Javid’s largesse is a marked change to the approach of his predecessor Philip Hammond, who was accused by critics of being slow to release funds for critical projects.

‘It really represents a shift in tone for the Treasury as a department,’ a Whitehall source said. ‘All departments that asked for money for No Deal got it. This was a very expedited process.

‘We want the Treasury to act as a motor for Brexit, not a brake, and that is what is happening.’

But the decision also reflects Boris Johnson’s approach to the economy, which he has described as ‘Boosterism’. The philosophy abandons the austerity of the past decade in favour of spending on infrastructure projects and focusing on tax cuts. Mr Johnson attended the first meeting of the new National Policing Board yesterday, which will drive through a £1.1billion project to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers over the next three years.

In the coming days Mr Johnson is also expected to reveal the details of billions of pounds of new investment in health, including upgrades to 20 hospitals and plans to cut GP waiting times. The new Brexit funding underlines his ‘do or die’ pledge to take Britain out of the EU by October 31.

However, Parliament’s spending watchdog said it would investigate the extra millions being thrown at No Deal preparations.

Meg Hillier, Labour chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, said there was too little time to spend such huge sums effectively, and accused the PM of using public money to wage ‘an expensive form of megaphone politics aimed at Brussels’.

But Government sources rejected this, saying much of the preparation would be needed even if a Brexit deal was struck.

An insider said: ‘People need to come to terms with the fact that we are leaving the EU at the end of October. Unlike the previous deal, any agreement that is struck will mean a clean break with the single market and customs union. We will need a new customs system regardless of whether we get a deal, so this is money well spent.’

A leaked Government proposal revealed yesterday that hauliers could face bigger fines and civilian traffic officers will be granted new powers in the event of No Deal to avoid customs delays at Dover.