howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Courtesy of the Sunday Times.
Police chiefs are drawing up contingency plans to deal with widespread civil disorder at the country’s borders and ports in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to a leaked report. he bombshell document, prepared by the National Police Co- ordination Centre, warns that the “necessity to call on military assistance is a real possibility” in the weeks around Britain’s departure from the EU. The report, which is due to be discussed at a meeting of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) next week, claims that “widespread leave embargoes” will be required. Some forces, such as Kent, are expected unilaterally to cancel rest days and leave immediately after March 29.
The document also warns that a no-deal Brexit could lead to a rise in crime, particularly theft and robbery, as Britain suffers food and drug shortages with the “expectation that more people will become ill”. The revelation comes as the government prepares this week to publish the final tranche of reports on the possible consequences of a no-deal Brexit. However, in an interview with The Sunday Times, George Hamilton, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, today savages the government’s no-deal planning and claims that ministers have failed adequately to prepare for the impact of Brexit on the peace and security of the province. The leaked document, marked “confidential”, warns that the ability of forces to plan for a no-deal Brexit is being “undermined by a perceived lack of communication between the policing unit of the Home Office and the Department for Exiting the European Union”. It warns that the “predominant” concern for the police is that food and goods shortages, including NHS supplies, will result in “civil disorder leading to widespread unrest”.
The report adds: “There is an expectation that crime not directly connected to Brexit will rise, as acquisitive crime will habitually rise in the event of restricted availability of goods.” The document also warns that Operation Stack — the queuing system for lorries waiting to cross the Channel when traffic is disrupted — will have to be “enacted in every UK port” requiring a “heavy police commitment”. It adds: “If Stack is introduced across the country, the disruption to the national road network will be unprecedented and overwhelming.”
The document also warns that in the event of no deal:
● Police officers who are EU nationals would potentially be unable to hold a warrant card — depriving the Metropolitan police alone of 750 officers
● Mobile data charges will rise, which will “directly affect policing budgets across the country”
● Mutual aid — where police forces lend officers to neighbouring areas — will need to be introduced, having a “serious knock-on effect on day-to-day policing”
● The disruption and civil unrest could last for three months either side of March 29 — rather than the six weeks being planned for by the government
● The ability for police to deal with non-UK criminality will be “undermined” as the UK “falls out of the various treaties such as the European arrest warrant, Schengen information system and membership of Europol”
● British overseas territories such as Gibraltar will “struggle” as they have “very limited resources” to deal with the “fallout”.
Commenting on the leaked document, Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow policing minister, said: “This is the nightmare scenario long feared; according to the UK’s most senior police officers a no-deal Brexit could leave Britain on the brink.” The NPCC lead for operations, Chief Constable Charlie Hall, said: “The police are planning for all scenarios that may require a police response in the event of a no-deal Brexit. “At this stage, we have no intelligence to suggest there will be an increase in crime or disorder. However, we remain vigilant and will continue to assess any threats and develop plans accordingly.”
Pablo- Registered: 21 Mar 2018
- Posts: 614
Project Fear 3.0.
Jan Higgins, Guest 1713, John Buckley and
1 more like this
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Didn't work with me Peter, my sphincter has been slackening for many months now.
Button
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,065
Well, what would you have enforcement agencies do - ignore 'what if' scenarios? Let's put aside competing views of the merits or otherwise of Brexit and its "no deal" variant for a second and recall that every time we have had Stack and its predecessors, civil disobedience has arisen within the trucking community.
(Not my real name.)
ray hutstone- Registered: 1 Apr 2018
- Posts: 2,158
Damned experts again. What do they know, eh?
Guest 1467- Registered: 30 Jan 2015
- Posts: 149
How did we ever manage before then??
Scare mongering.....
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
Lewis Jones wrote:How did we ever manage before then??
Scare mongering.....
In many cases probably a lot better, back when common sense ruled rather than some vague or biased statistics based computer generated plan.
Brian Dixon, John Buckley and Guest 1467 like this
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
If it is all scare mongering someone should have told the French, Dutch and Belgians who have been hiring and training up customs officers since the beginning of the year.
Button likes this
Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,087
I don't mind a bit of civil unrest. ('Begging your pardon Officer, but would you mind if I knocked your hat off?') It's the uncivil unrest I'm worried about.
John Buckley likes this
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
