6 November 2018
A real run on a bank: Northern Rock, 2007 – all without the help of Brexit! Photo Lee Jordan (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
A briefing based on the minutes of a recent Local Resilience Forum meeting has revealed that councils have been told to plan for “reasonable worst case scenarios” in the event of a no-deal Brexit, including runs on banks, and shortages of food, medicine and petrol. Local Resilience Forums bring local authorities together with emergency services and the NHS.
The briefing, reported in the Daily Mirror and elsewhere, said councils should prepare to report to central government every 8 hours, and could have to cancel leave over Easter. The briefing advises public bodies to base their plans on a “12 week disruption period” lasting until the end of May 2019.
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said it was “working with Government and engaging with the expertise of local government to ensure we get these crucial negotiations right for local communities,” while shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne said it was “frankly shocking that the local government sector has been starved of resilience support that they now so desperately need.”
Expect soon to hear of all anaesthetic being removed from dental surgeries, compulsory amputations of all left-handers and a plague of locusts in the event of Brexit going ahead…