Britain ramps up no-deal Brexit warnings

LONDON: Britain’s government stepped up warnings on Wednesday that a “no-deal” Brexit would hammer the economy, but acknowledged that Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan, opposed by many of her own side, would also leave the economy worse off than staying in the EU.

In a scenario resembling the agreement May has struck with other European Union leaders, national output would be 2.1 per cent smaller in just over 15 years’ time than if Britain remained in the bloc, the government said.

But if there was no deal, it would be 7.7 per cent smaller.

The report was seized on by opponents of Brexit, who said it undermined promises that leaving the EU would make Britain, and Britons, more prosperous.

“It took until this morning for the chancellor (finance minister) to finally admit it: We would be better off staying in the EU,” said opposition Labour lawmaker Alison Mcgovern. “He confessed that the government’s deal would bring ‘impediments’ to trade. That means a threat to jobs.”

LONDON: Britain’s Environment Minister Michael Gove reassured the country on Wednesday that it would have plenty of safe drinking water should it crash out of the European Union without a deal.

The unusual message from Gove came in response to a media report of cabinet ministers being briefed about various doomsday scenarios.

One of them reportedly included the possibility of the UK running out of the European chemicals it imports through ports to purify water supplies.

The Mail on Sunday said Gove only came out in support of Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce arrangements with the EU after being told that no deal would see Britons “immediately face a shortage of drinking water and (an) inability to lush toilets.”

Responding to the report, Gove told a parliamentary committee hearing that the chemicals in question were primarily shipped through the less-congested port of Immingham.

Economists think the country’s biggest port in Dover could grind to a halt if London and Brussels fail to agree new customs and regulations procedures.

“It is the case that the water industry is reliant on chemicals that are imported from the EU in order to ensure that we have pure and safe drinking water,” Gove said.

“Prudently, we have talked to the water companies, and I have been talking to the regulator, to make sure that those chemicals can be sourced.”

Gove explained that the government was taking“appropriate steps to mitigate .” “So, it should be the case that our water will be -- in fact, it will be the case that our water will be completely safe to drink.”

Most Britons have grown accustomed to hearing frightening stories about life after the day Britain ends its 46-year membership in the EU on March 29.