'Black Wednesday'-style economic chaos looming from no-deal Brexit, warn UK cabinet ministers

Cabinet ministers have warned Theresa May that a no-deal Brexit could plunge Britain into an economic crisis and force the Government to charter ships to access food and medicines.

At a fiery meeting of the Cabinet yesterday, de-facto deputy prime minister David Lidington said crashing out of the EU without a deal could spark another massive economic wobble like the ‘Black Wednesday’ event of 25 years ago.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling meanwhile told colleagues the Government could commission ships to get supplies through Belgian and Dutch ports if traffic between Dover and Calais clogs up.

The revelations pile pressure on the Prime Minister to have a deal in place before the UK quits the bloc at the end of March next year.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has said a deal must be finalised by the end of November to ensure the relevant preparations can be made in time, but the negotiations are at an impasse over the Irish border issue.

It also comes as May prepares to face her backbenchers tonight amid swirling speculation about a possible challenge to her leadership.

First Secretary of State Lidington told the Cabinet he was the only person at the table who had been an MP in 1992 when interest rates rocketed and Britain quit the European exchange rate mechanism.

The veteran Tory MP warned colleagues the country “couldn’t have that level of chaos again,” according to the Sun.

He also said the Dover-Calais freight route could be operating at 12-25% of its full capacity for up to six months, according to the FT, while Grayling set out his proposals for chartering boats on other routes.

“Whatever we do at our end, the French could cause chaos if they carry out checks at their end,” one government official told the paper.

“Dover-Calais would be the obvious pinch point. The French would say they were only applying the rules.”

But a government source denied there were plans to buy or charter boats and said private firms were instead being urged to consider different routes, according to the BBC.

Elsewhere, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the EU proposal to keep the whole UK in a customs arrangement with the bloc to protect the Irish border could end up like “Dante’s first circle of hell,” the Spectator reports.