LONDON (AA) - The U.K. government has prepared a $2.5 billion no-deal Brexit fund aimed at securing vital medical supplies and British businesses as well increasing preparations of border posts and officials in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The fund was announced by Sajid Javid, the chancellor of the exchequer, on Wednesday and is intended to show the EU that the U.K. is more than willing to leave the bloc without an agreement. Furthermore, it adds weight to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statements on leaving without an agreement.
“With 92 days until the UK leaves the European Union it’s vital that we intensify our planning to ensure we are ready. We want to get a good deal that abolishes the anti-democratic backstop,” Javid told The Guardian daily.
He added: “But if we can’t get a good deal we’ll have to leave without one. This additional £2.1 billion will ensure we are ready to leave on 31 October – deal or no deal.”
The government’s plans for a $2.5 billion fund have increased its no-deal allocation fund for this year alone up to $7.6 billion. From this fund, $416 million will be used for border operations in which 1,000 officers will be employed. The aim of the fund is to improve the processing of passport applications, training for customs staff, and the readiness to tackle any travel disruptions around ports.
Furthermore, $524 million will be used for the stockpiling of vital medicines and other medical products. This money will also go into the cost of transporting and storing medicines in warehouses while $130 million will be used to help businesses face the challenges and difficulties that would likely be presented by a no-deal Brexit.
The opposition Labour party, however, blasted the move as an “appealing waste” of taxpayers’ money, arguing that the sums would be better spent on public services such as the National Health Service, public schools and public transport.
“This government could have ruled out no deal, and spent these billions on our schools, hospitals, and people,” said John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, in a statement, arguing that a no-deal Brexit is avoidable as MPs have repeatedly stated that they would block a no-deal in parliament.
“Labour is a party for the whole of the U.K., so we’ll do all we can to block a no-deal, crash-out Brexit, and we’ll deliver a transformative economic policy that delivers for the many, not the few,” he added.
Meg Hillier, chair of the House of Commons public accounts committee, told The Guardian that she would scrutinize such high levels of spending, arguing that Johnson’s emergency meetings and rhetoric of a no-deal Brexit do not give him the justification to waste large amounts of taxpayers’ money.
“It is of course responsible for a government to be prepared for an emergency. But this is an emergency of the government’s own making,” Hillier said.
The pound has continued to drop in value on the prospects of a no-deal Brexit, falling to a dollar value of $1.21, the lowest since the 2016 EU referendum, and fell to €1.08 against the euro.
In the week since Johnson was anointed prime minister, the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has markedly risen. Johnson has said that he prefers to leave the EU with an agreement but has, however, repeatedly stated that a new withdrawal agreement that does not include the Irish backstop must be drawn up and that the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31 without any exceptions.
The EU has repeatedly stated that the withdrawal agreement signed by Johnson’s predecessor will not be reopened for negotiation and the Irish backstop is an insurance policy that Brussels cannot get rid of. Johnson has said that a no-deal Brexit would be the fault of the EU.