‘PM hiding information on no-deal damage’ – Brown
FORMER prime minister Gordon Brown has accused Boris Johnson of “hiding the information from the country” about the “devastating” impact of a no-deal Brexit.
As Downing Street confirmed that Parliament would be prorogued at the close of business last night, Mr Brown warned that leaving the European Union without a deal in place could hit imports of food and medicine.
And he insisted Boris Johnson must answer questions on such matters.
The former Labour leader said: “Boris Johnson and his ministers say that Britain is taking back control. But in reality, Britain is losing control – of our food supplies, of our medical supplies and of our manufacturing supplies.”
Speaking before a No To No Deal rally in Glasgow, Mr Brown said: “I think the truth is, no-deal is a risk to medical supplies, food supplies, a risk to the components that are coming in for British industry, it puts jobs at risk and he’s not wanting that to be debated.
“I think there are internal documents available to ministers that tell them of the risks that they cannot guarantee medical supplies or food supplies, and I think they are avoiding debate on this. So, we have a no-deal Brexit, we have a no-debate Brexit, we have a no-democracy Brexit at the moment, and I think he is trying to hide the information from the country.”
Calling for internal Whitehall assessments of the risks of no-deal to be published, Mr Brown stressed that MPs had “an obligation, at all times, to use their judgment to weigh the balance of risks”.
Mr Brown said more than one million consignments of medical supplies arrive in the UK from Europe every day - with these amounting to more than 400 million a year.