MPs forced the government to publish the ‘Yellowhammer’ report, leaked last month. This fiasco reveals the crisis engulfing Downing Street. Inside or outside of the EU, it is the working class who will be made to pay under the Tories.
As part of their attempts to thwart Boris Johnson’s no-deal plans, MPs have forced the government to publish its so-called Yellowhammer report, compiled by civil servants and leaked a month ago in the Sunday Times.
The report has exposed the dismal lack of planning and preparation by the state as the 31 October Brexit deadline looms.
The report was supposed to present a summary of what could happen should Britain crash out of the EU with no deal in place. Critics have rushed to call it ‘project fear’; others call it ‘project fact’.
The report presents a terrifying picture of economic chaos and upheaval, with a prediction of violent protests, strikes and shortages. In passing, it is noted that the effects of all this will impact on the working class most of all.
Rather than give any indication that this can be averted, however, the Tories and their friends in the right-wing media have set to work trying to rubbish the report. They seem to hope that the dangers will all go away with a bit of hand-waving, as if by magic.
So we have Tories now referring to the report as a “reasonable worst case scenario” – a vague phrase that hides the fact that things could be better, or (more to the point) much worse.
Micheal Gove tried to trash the report by claiming that the report was “old” (it was just 16 days old), and that the report had never been called a “base scenario”.
In fact, the Sunday Times confirmed that the very words “base scenario” did appear on the leaked version. And, more tellingly, Gove himself confirmed that fact in evidence given to the Brexit Select Committee. So much for Gove now claiming that this was just the “absolute worst case”.
Even more bizarrely, we also had Andrea Leadsom claiming with a straight face that the government didn’t want the report published because it might cause people to be concerned, and she didn’t want any of us to worry.
This fiasco reflects a government in crisis, unable to resolve even simple problems. It is yet another sign that Boris’ days in Downing Street are numbered.
Those most concerned with the publication of Yellowhammer will be the bankers and the bosses in the City, worried about the threat of a train-crash Brexit to their profits. But – in or out of the EU – it is ultimately the working class who will be made to pay under the Tories, through continued austerity and attacks.
The only genuine alternative for workers is to fight for a socialist Labour government and a socialist Europe.
