Government prepares weekly warnings on no-deal Brexit

The government is preparing to issue weekly warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit after the prime minister's blueprint for leaving the EU failed to unite her party.

From the week beginning 23 July the government will issue households and companies with “bundles” of advice on how to prepare for a disorderly Brexit, the Times reported. Up to 250,000 small businesses will be asked to make customs declarations as part of the summer campaign, it said.

Prime Minister Theresa May had previously said the government would release about 70 “technical notices” setting out what citizens should do to prepare for Britain leaving with no deal in March 2019. The Times said ministers had so far refused to give more detail about the plan. Consumers could be advised to buy health insurance when travelling. Warnings about disruption at ports and airports and advice on stockpiling food could also feature.

Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, told the BBC: “They’re not public warnings as such.” She said the government was working in line with an agreed timetable on detailed contingency plans.

The government is getting ready to publish its advice as May’s proposed deal for leaving the EU appears to be unacceptable to both wings of her party. Despite May making concessions to Brexit hardliners former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who quit over the plan, described the proposals as botched and said they would leave the UK in “miserable limbo”.

With parliamentary approval unlikely and doubts about the EU’s response a deal before the March 2019 deadline looks difficult.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Britain dropping out of the EU without agreeing terms would cause economic harm throughout Europe. The UK would be worst affected but Ireland and other nations would be damaged if Britain resorts to World Trade Organisation rules to buy and sell goods and services with the EU, the IMF said.