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Brexit Project Fear – Britain Will Run Out Of Drinking Water In Days

We’ve another little addition to Project Fear here – apparently Britain will run out of drinking water within days of Brexit. For the chemicals used to clean and purify water are imported. Thus, given that Britain will be entirely cut off from the world once we leave that European embrace we all die and Aiee!

Or something:

Leaked doomsday plans have warned Britain could run out of clean drinking water within days of a no-deal Brexit.

The shock warning was contained in Whitehall’s contingency plan Operation Yellowhammer – and reportedly convinced Michael Gove to back the deal.

Suppliers add chemicals including fluorosilicic acid, aluminium sulphate, calcium hydroxide and sodium silicofluoride to make water safe to drink.

But those are timed to arrive ‘just in time’ and cannot be stockpiled as they are too volatile.

Drivel. Something that’s too volatile to stockpile? That’s something that’s rather difficult to transport then, isn’t it? But rather more than that, why would being in control of what we import and from whom mean a shortage of something imported?

Whitehall disaster planners have warned Ministers that leaving the EU without a deal could spark a national crisis as crucial chemicals used in water purification are imported to the UK from Europe.

The deliveries risk getting caught in weeks of border chaos if Britain quits the EU next March without the Prime Minister’s deal with Brussels being approved by MPs.

Sigh. This is to assume that there’s no one in the country with a brain. Sure, obviously, that’s true in politics but out here in the real world people do tend to use them. So, we have things being imported. We have things being imported in a just in time manner. Great, so, customs and haulage handlers prioritise those things which need to be prioritised. The problem with this is?

Hasn’t anyone even bothered to go talk to the people at Felixstowe? Well, no, obviously not, for the aim is to stoke Project Fear, isn’t it, rather than to tell us anything useful or even true about the future.

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Rhoda Klapp
Rhoda Klapp
5 years ago

Why is there going to be border chaos? No tariff, any VAT is dealt with in a non-time-linked manner. Lie, scare, next?

Dodgy Geezer
Dodgy Geezer
5 years ago
Reply to  Rhoda Klapp

Oh, the French can easily create border chaos if they want……

Pat
Pat
5 years ago

If our present suppliers are for any reason unable to continue then we source the stuff from somewhere else. Using air freight if needed. Norway must have enough, but if not I’m sure the yanks can help out.
If (fingers crossed) this deal goes down there are going to be a lot of experts losing all credibility.

ManofBath
ManofBath
5 years ago

One piece of fearmongering nonsense after another. And our useless media publishes this crap instead of trying to debunk it.

Pat
Pat
5 years ago

Further thought.
Those who would have us believe that all good things come from government are positioning themselves to take credit should a no deal Brexit be trouble free- they will point to a list of disasters that they’ve saved us from.

Grope_of_Big_Horn
Grope_of_Big_Horn
5 years ago

Stockpiling of chemicals that go in water isn’t possible? Surely you just stockpile the stuff in water, and dilute and add to the drinking supply later.
Like Vimto cordial perhaps.

Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis
5 years ago

Thick twat. Jesus!

Dodgy Geezer
Dodgy Geezer
5 years ago

In other news, once we leave Europe we will no longer have Clean Air regulations, so the air will immediately become impossible to breathe.

And although the concept of Gravity was invented (like most things) in the UK, it has been standardised scientifically by the French in Europe. So as soon as we leave the European Science Organisation, gravity will cease to exist, and we will start to float upwards into the clouds….

Similarly, we won’t be allowed to eat Brussels Sprouts with our Christmas roast…

Tom Oliva
Tom Oliva
5 years ago
Reply to  Dodgy Geezer

You beat me to it – I’d rather like to know the detail provenance of these scare stories so that the perpetrators can be re-tasked.

Dodgy Geezer
Dodgy Geezer
5 years ago
Reply to  Tom Oliva

I tried this with the BBC long ago.

Their standard response is that these are personal opinions of a reporter and therefore cannot be corrected or altered in any way….

Samarkand Tony
Samarkand Tony
5 years ago

A lot of this stuff about borders and customs seems to be because people have the odd idea that we prevent smuggling by checking stuff at ports. We don’t. When someone imports a container load of toys from China, no-one comes to look through the container and check that they’re compliant with EU law. They can’t sell them into the EU supply chain without the right paperwork to show they’re compliant, and that’s where the checks are made – whoever bought them couldn’t sell them on without that paperwork, and so-on up the chain to the retailer selling them to… Read more »

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