Politics

Senior Brexit planner responsible for smooth running of Dover-Calais trade QUITS


Matthew Coats, the director-general for EU exit implementation, has resigned from his critical role in Brexit preparations. The senior official reported directly to Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no deal planning, and also lead a cross-governmental body tasked wth ensuring that the border operates when Britain leaves the EU. The body, Border Delivery Group, is crucial to navigating border issues in the event of a no deal Brexit.

After hearing the news, a senior Whitehall source told the Financial Times: “This is a puzzling and alarming development, coming so close to the October 31 deadline.

“For this to happen at such a moment is extraordinary.”

The reason for Mr Coats’ resignation has not yet been disclosed but leaving so close to the October 31 deadline is likely to be a major setback for the Government.

But Chancellor Sajid Javid has insisted that Britain is “ready” to leave the EU without a deal, reaffirming the Prime Minister’s “do or die” Brexit strategy.

Mr Javid backed up the Prime Minister’s comments, and revealed that Mr Johnson will press ahead with leaving the bloc on October 31, regardless of whether a deal has been struck.

In an interview with the Daily Mail the Chancellor hit out at Remain MPs for forcing through the Benn Law, which is designed to stop a no deal Brexit, saying it “does make it harder” to strike a fresh deal with Brussels.

The legislation, branded the “Surrender Act” by Mr Johnson, also forces the Prime Minister to seek an extension from the EU if a deal has not been struck by October 19.

The Chancellor said the law “is not helpful” and added: “I think the impression from the opposition is that they really don’t want us to leave the EU at all, which is completely unacceptable.”

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“If we don’t, we will leave without a deal.

Yesterday, Brexit minister Steven Barclay said that negotiations with the EU “still [have] a long way to go”.

The Irish backstop remains the stumbling block, as Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said the UK still has not proposed a “serious” alternative to the mechanism that is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.

But the Government plans to send connected Brexit proposals to the EU after next week’s Conservative Party conference, in time for scrutiny ahead of the European Council meeting starting October 17.



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