Here's a link to the Operation Yellowhammer: HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions.
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...address-motion
Anyone who voted Leave and did not expect a significant period of disruption must have been casting their vote in fantasy land, or perhaps didn't read the document circulated by the Government to every household in the country - at the public's expense - foretelling the worst case scenario as they sought to scare folk into voting Remain.
For the most part the Yellowhammer documents reiterate the types of disruption that have already been trailed in the media. I don't think many people will be surprised at this stage by the types of disruption being forecast, and some of the 'detail' is still speculative as well as being by definition 'Worst Case'. There are plenty of words like 'could' and 'may' and 'likely' in there.
However, of particular interest is paragraph two on page one, which states:
"The relationship between the UK and the EU as a whole is unsympathetic, with many Member States (
under pressure from the Commission) unwilling to engage bilaterally and implementing protections unilaterally, though some Member states may be more understanding".
As revealed by this paragraph, and subsequent bullet points within the document, the EU has in some respects actively refused the UK's offers to find/fund solutions that would make certain elements of the transition easier.
Like the mafia, this is not a club you are welcome to leave of your own free will, or that you are supposed to leave at all. It is not a healthy relationship of mutual co-operation between friends. This is an organisation that resents the departure of one of its biggest benefactors and is inclined to be at least awkward, if not openly hostile in its desire to make this process as difficult as it can.
I have absolutely no doubt that many if not most individual European countries would wish to continue friendly relations with us, albeit some more enthusiastically than others, but the European Union as an entity is not anybody's friend. It is a self-serving, malevolent, undemocratic bureaucracy whose ultimate aim has always been to undermine the sovereignty of its members, control increasing amounts of their resources and ultimately create a United States of Europe.
The message could not be clearer: any member state of the EU that shows a willingness to be overly understanding, sympathetic or cooperative with the UK post Brexit will come under pressure from the Commission not to do so.
Why would we want to be a part of an organisation that not only resents a member's sovereign right to exercise its free will to leave, but which then coerces remaining members to play their part in punishing that state for making such a choice?
I suspect many will conclude that a period of intense disruption - if it materialises - is a small price to pay to escape this trap.