Politics

Brexit: Boris Johnson denies lying to Queen about reasons for prorogation – live news


Quite late last night, the government finally published the Operation Yellowhammer document about what might happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit. You can read the document here (pdf). And here is our overnight story.

This morning, as he left his home, Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal Brexit planning, sought to play down the report’s conclusions. He claimed that over the past six weeks, the government had taken “considerable steps” to address the potential problems outlined in the document. He said:


The Yellowhammer documents are a worst-case scenario. They are produced so government can take plans and take steps in order to mitigate any of those consequences. And over the course of the last six weeks, this government has taken considerable steps in order to ensure that, if there is a no-deal scenario, we can leave in the safest and smoothest possible way.

But of course it is important to stress that we are fighting hard for a deal, the prime minister has been making diplomatic progress this week, and we are on our way to getting a better deal.

There will be a lot more on this as the day goes on. Here what’s coming up …

9am: John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, speaks at the launch of a report by Lord Skidelsky on how to achieve a four-day working week.

9am: Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, speaks at the Universities UK conference.

10am: The high court in Belfast rules on the legal challenge against prorogation brought in Northern Ireland.

4pm: McDonnell speaks at the publication of a report on a plan for a financial transactions tax.

At some point today, Boris Johnson is also due to take part in a visit to promote the announcement of a contract to build five new frigates.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

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