20 Dec No deal Brexit: not “ideal” but we are ready!

No. 10 confirmed on Tuesday that ministers would “ramp up” no-deal planning, and that the departments would be expected to make it their main priority. Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary of Commons, said his department “will have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness, including regulars and reserves, in order to support any government department on any contingencies they may need”.

As PM Theresa May’s proposed exit plan flounders in Parliament, both sides are preparing for the worst-case situation. The UK has allocated £2bn ($2.5bn) in funding to government departments. The European Commission has also publish a list of measures designed to limit disruption in certain key areas, such as finance and transport, if Brexit were to go ahead in March 2019 without a deal.

What will happen for both EU nationals and British citizens without a deal Brexit?

The British government has pledged to uphold the rights of 3.5 million EU nationals to live and work in the UK, even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, but some existing rights would no longer be available, for example rights that allow elderly parents to come and live with their grown-up children in the UK as family members.

The EU Commission, as mentioned above, will also take steps to protect EU’s interests. These measures include:

• British airlines would be granted temporary rights to fly over EU airspace and some aviation safety certificates would be extended.
• Banks and financial institutions will receive a one-year reprieve on changes to rules on derivatives.
• Limited tweaks to customs rules to ease the flow of goods between the EU and UK, but EU member states would be expected to treat the UK as a “foreign” country.

In addition, around 1 million British citizens living in the European Union stand to lose their right to remain living and working in the EU if the UK leaves the Brexit negotiations without a deal, the European Commission has warned.

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