Boris Johnson Steps Up No-Deal Brexit Planning

29 July 2019, 07:13

Preparations for a no-deal Brexit are being stepped up by the Government as Boris Johnson prepares to make his first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister.

On Sunday, Mr Johnson set up a network of top-level committees to try to ensure Brexit takes place by the deadline of October 31.

The move came before Mr Johnson makes his first official visit north of the border since becoming Prime Minister to announce a £300 million funding pot for communities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Speaking before his visit to a military base, Mr Johnson called for a renewal of "the ties that bind our United Kingdom."

"Our Union is the most successful political and economic union in history.

"We are a global brand and together we are safer, stronger and more prosperous," he said.

Mr Johnson faces a tense encounter with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson on Monday, however, after she announced she would oppose a no-deal exit from the EU.

Over the weekend, Mr Johnson set up a new structure of Government committees to try to ensure Brexit by Halloween.

The Daily Operations Committee, chaired by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, will meet every weekday in the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms and will be responsible for overseeing all of the Government's preparations for leaving the EU, and a possible no-deal exit.

The committee will meet for the first time on Tuesday and a Downing Street source said it was being structured in such a way so that the Treasury would be "a motor for delivering Brexit, not the anchor".