Thread by @CanburyPress

Today we are tweeting the start of @iandunt's book about Brexit.

It imagines the shitshow of a no-deal Brexit. Which is due to happen in two months' time.

Unless we change course.

@IanDunt 30 March 2019
The clock strikes midnight and Britain is out of the European Union. The talks have fallen apart in mutual acrimony.

@IanDunt The UK has not secured continued membership of the single market. It doesn’t even have access. It is out of the customs union, too. It has no trade deals with Europe or anyone else. It is on its own.

@IanDunt In the early morning, a lorry is loaded in Glasgow with radio equipment bound for the Czech Republic. When the lorry arrives at Calais, it is stopped by a customs official.

@IanDunt Until today, Britain has enjoyed a seamless trading relationship with Europe. It means that European Union countries recognise UK standards and paperwork and vice-versa, allowing goods to be transported over borders without additional checks. Now the paperwork is worthless.

@IanDunt The lorry is stopped. Inspectors come on board and take samples to send off for testing. Everything must be assessed, from the information on packaging to the environmental impact of components. This will take days, during which the lorry is barred from entering the Continent.

@IanDunt Behind the Glasgow lorry, several other vehicles are taken to one side. By sunset, the bottleneck on the French side means lorries can no longer drive onto Calais-bound ferries at Dover. They queue on the slow lane of the A2. Within a few days, the tailback stretches to London.

@IanDunt For exporters of animal products such as meat and eggs the problems are more severe still. They are only allowed into the EU through specially designated entry inspection posts, but it has been so long since the UK needed them for trade with Europe that none exist.

@IanDunt British exports of salmon, beef, and lamb collapse overnight. In Westminster, ministers demand the immediate creation of the inspection posts, but they have limited leverage with their European partners. A key export industry starts to rot.

@IanDunt The problems aren’t restricted to goods for the Continent. The EU has mutual recognition agreements with Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and the US, mimicking the bureaucracy-free trade on the Continent. UK goods for the US had been verified by virtue of their EU accreditation.

@IanDunt Now they also need to be checked. Shipments heading for America’s west coast are stopped at customs, detained and sent off for inspection. In the complex world of freight, with one shipment arriving as the other leaves, the effect is devastating.

@IanDunt Brexit detonates like a bomb across global trading networks.

@IanDunt ++++

That's it for today. More tomorrow.

If you want to, you can buy Ian's book Brexit What the Hell Happens Now? pretty cheaply here:

hive.co.uk/Product/Ian-Du… (This website supports local bookshops)

@IanDunt Most branches of Foyles and Waterstones and many independent bookshops have copies too