Former Brexit chief: We should all worry about no deal.

Everyone should worry concerning no deal, the civil servant who was, until March, head of the Brexit department has said.

Philip Rycroft, who resigned after 18 months, told the BBC's Panorama no deal was "fraught with risk".

And ni police said no deal could help recruitment for paramilitary groups.

Both the candidates in the race to replace Theresa May as prime minister - Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson - have said they would be prepared to leave the EU without a deal.

The UK had been due to leave the EU on 29 March but this date was delayed after MPs repeatedly rejected the prime minister's withdrawal agreement. Currently, Brexit is set to take place on 31 October.

The government says it has been preparing for almost three years to minimise disruption in the event of no deal. It says it continues to provide people and businesses with information they need to prepare and encourage them to take action.

In his first broadcast interview since stepping down as permanent secretary at the Brexit department, Mr Rycroft said the planning operation for exiting the EU was "an unprecedented situation" and "the biggest exercise across government over the last few decades".

He told Panorama: "This has been an extraordinary exercise to which the civil service is responding brilliantly well… The planning I think is in good shape, absolutely… but of course what that doesn't mean is that there won't be an impact from Brexit, and particularly a no-deal Brexit, because that is a very major change and it would be a very abrupt change to our major trading relationship."

"The rational outcome over the next few months is to get a deal because that is overwhelmingly in the economic interest of both the EU and the UK."

Mr Rycroft - who was in charge of preparing the UK for a no-deal Brexit until March this year - said: "It's not in the UK's interest to have no deal, it's not in the EU's interest to have a no deal.

"I think everybody should be worried about what happens in a no-deal situation. We would be taking a step into the unknown."

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, additional checks on goods being delivered across the UK-EU border could result in delays on the roads - especially around the Port of Dover in Kent, which handles 17% of the UK's goods trade.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said working with the government to prepare for no deal has been "a frustrating process". He said: "We have no clarity of the processes - what's actually going to happen on day one."

Mr Burnett told Panorama that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had left him a voicemail expressing his disappointment after the RHA issued a press release following a private briefing.

The Department for Transport said the Road Haulage Association had been heavily involved in EU preparatory work and would continue to be involved at every stage of planning.

In a statement, it added: "It is extremely unfortunate when details of private conversations held in confidence are made public in a press release."

Source: https://aderonkebamidele.com/former-brexit-chief-we-should-all-worry-about-no-deal/