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No, this document was drafted by Boris Johnson's pro-Brexit government. E: Apparently it was his predecessor, but it's nevertheless not drafted by Labour.

bitL 7y ago
It's probably the same as when US army evaluates catastrophic scenario that Canada, Mexico or Belize invade USA (or the other way round). There are probably 10 similar scenarios ranging from Brexit net-positive and rebirth of UK empire dominating inept EU down to loss of Scotland/North Ireland and economic collapse, which is what government should do anyway. I guess there's nothing else to write about in the newspapers during summer...
- jimnotgym 7y ago
  According to the report itself this is not the worst case scenario, it is the realistic one.
creaghpatr 7y ago
It’s right there in the article: >The Financial Times quoted government insiders who rebutted the document, saying it is not a realistic scenario for a no-deal Brexit and pointing out that it was written under the leadership of Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, and does not reflect the preparations spearheaded by Johnson that are now underway. >”This document is from when ministers were blocking what needed to be done to get ready to leave and the funds were not available. It has been deliberately leaked by a former minister in an attempt to influence discussions with EU leaders," a source told the paper.
- bertil 7y ago
  Whether the previous government (same party, same Parliament, same mandate, same objective) is “the opposition” is debatable. It’s not Labour. It’s not Remainers. Both governments want a deal with the EU. It’s unclear if the minister who leaked that document voted for the existing Deal (several ministers voted against their own government).
- DanBC 7y ago
  Your use of the word "opposition" is confusing because in the UK that would mean the party not in power, it wouldn't mean people in the same party.
- jimnotgym 7y ago
  Still not quite right. The document was prepared by the civil service while Teresa May was Prime Minister. Teresa May is in the same party as Boris, not the opposition as you claim. Boris' team are claiming, not that this document is wrong, but that it is an out of date analysis, and that Boris has turned things around since he took office on 24th July. Perhaps he really is that good that he has done in 3 weeks what May couldn't do in 3 years (some of which time he was a senior cabinet member himself). Paint it on the side of a bus, with 350 million other lies.
privateSFacct 7y ago
Totally false. And using fear in politics is nothing new. The US now has tariffs on Canada because of the "risk" Canada poses to national security. The idea that the UK crumbles (the document has things like cancer patients dying, folks with diabetes dying - its just an incredible list) seems far fetched. The UK operated prior to the EU without all these disasters.
- pmlnr 7y ago
  Go and talk to your elders about pre 1970 UK. I did. Regular 3 day power outages were common as a start.
- alkonaut 7y ago
  > The UK operated prior to the EU without all these disasters. This is true. But what’s discussed is how difficult it is to untangle 40 years of ever tighter integration. Decades ago things weren’t made in british factories using parts delivered just in time to be assembled, from multiple European supplier factories. No one is arguing that it’s impossible for Britain to function outside the EU. But “it worked before” isn’t an argument that leaving won’t be a disaster. Taking the same argument ad absurdum: Britain used to operate without electricity and cars. Now there is a hundred years of electricity and cars integrated into every corner of British society so if cars and electricity was suddenly removed, it would take a long time for Britain to adapt to the new old system of candles and horses. It would work (it has operated that way before) but it would be a disaster for quite some time. An initial shortage of horses and candles wouldn’t be the only problem.
- jashmatthews 7y ago
  > folks with diabetes dying Back in 1975 things were very different. We didn't have recombinant insulin and diabetics died much more often. It's not like we can flip a switch and go back to 1975, but keeping everything from 2019 running.
- renaudg 7y ago
  This is like saying it's easy to refactor a huge codebase to strip a critical software component from it overnight, because 40 years ago you used to have a standalone version that didn't require it.
cybersnowflake 7y ago
Theresa May is the greatest Brexit champion mankind has ever known according to HN.

bitL 7y ago

It's probably the same as when US army evaluates catastrophic scenario that Canada, Mexico or Belize invade USA (or the other way round). There are probably 10 similar scenarios ranging from Brexit net-positive and rebirth of UK empire dominating inept EU down to loss of Scotland/North Ireland and economic collapse, which is what government should do anyway. I guess there's nothing else to write about in the newspapers during summer...

jimnotgym 7y ago
According to the report itself this is not the worst case scenario, it is the realistic one.

creaghpatr 7y ago

It’s right there in the article: >The Financial Times quoted government insiders who rebutted the document, saying it is not a realistic scenario for a no-deal Brexit and pointing out that it was written under the leadership of Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, and does not reflect the preparations spearheaded by Johnson that are now underway. >”This document is from when ministers were blocking what needed to be done to get ready to leave and the funds were not available. It has been deliberately leaked by a former minister in an attempt to influence discussions with EU leaders," a source told the paper.

bertil 7y ago
Whether the previous government (same party, same Parliament, same mandate, same objective) is “the opposition” is debatable. It’s not Labour. It’s not Remainers. Both governments want a deal with the EU. It’s unclear if the minister who leaked that document voted for the existing Deal (several ministers voted against their own government).
DanBC 7y ago
Your use of the word "opposition" is confusing because in the UK that would mean the party not in power, it wouldn't mean people in the same party.
jimnotgym 7y ago
Still not quite right. The document was prepared by the civil service while Teresa May was Prime Minister. Teresa May is in the same party as Boris, not the opposition as you claim. Boris' team are claiming, not that this document is wrong, but that it is an out of date analysis, and that Boris has turned things around since he took office on 24th July. Perhaps he really is that good that he has done in 3 weeks what May couldn't do in 3 years (some of which time he was a senior cabinet member himself). Paint it on the side of a bus, with 350 million other lies.

privateSFacct 7y ago

Totally false. And using fear in politics is nothing new. The US now has tariffs on Canada because of the "risk" Canada poses to national security. The idea that the UK crumbles (the document has things like cancer patients dying, folks with diabetes dying - its just an incredible list) seems far fetched. The UK operated prior to the EU without all these disasters.

pmlnr 7y ago
Go and talk to your elders about pre 1970 UK. I did. Regular 3 day power outages were common as a start.
alkonaut 7y ago
> The UK operated prior to the EU without all these disasters. This is true. But what’s discussed is how difficult it is to untangle 40 years of ever tighter integration. Decades ago things weren’t made in british factories using parts delivered just in time to be assembled, from multiple European supplier factories. No one is arguing that it’s impossible for Britain to function outside the EU. But “it worked before” isn’t an argument that leaving won’t be a disaster. Taking the same argument ad absurdum: Britain used to operate without electricity and cars. Now there is a hundred years of electricity and cars integrated into every corner of British society so if cars and electricity was suddenly removed, it would take a long time for Britain to adapt to the new old system of candles and horses. It would work (it has operated that way before) but it would be a disaster for quite some time. An initial shortage of horses and candles wouldn’t be the only problem.
jashmatthews 7y ago
> folks with diabetes dying Back in 1975 things were very different. We didn't have recombinant insulin and diabetics died much more often. It's not like we can flip a switch and go back to 1975, but keeping everything from 2019 running.
renaudg 7y ago
This is like saying it's easy to refactor a huge codebase to strip a critical software component from it overnight, because 40 years ago you used to have a standalone version that didn't require it.

cybersnowflake 7y ago

Theresa May is the greatest Brexit champion mankind has ever known according to HN.