Thread by @NicoleSykes_

Lots of chat today about no deal preparations. Again. And we at @cbitweets have some thoughts. About 120 pages of thoughts.

After 18 months of preparing our members for no deal, we asked:
Are we ready?
What needs to be done?
Would it make a difference? (1/9)

@CBItweets Turns out, we're not ready. We looked at 27 areas of no deal preparations and we're expecting disruption of some form in all 27 at present - 24 of them in the short-term after no deal and 3 of them in the long-term (2/9)

@CBItweets But falling out of the EU without a deal is such a seismic event, we can't stand by and not try and reduce the damage.
So we've put forwards over 200 recommendations for businesses, the UK government, European Commission and EU Member States that would dial down disruption (3/9)

@CBItweets It's fair to say the UK government has done a pretty good job trying to minimise short-term disruption.
But no deal is a multi-player game, and a lot of the power is in the EU's hands. In 16 of the 27 areas, the EU has done less than the UK to mitigate no deal disruption (4/9)

@CBItweets Businesses have to play their part too and we're calling on them to immediately up their no deal preparations. @cbitweets will help them do that. We've produced a whole range of advice for members, such as the below (5/9)

@CBItweets But, ultimately, if no deal happens a ton of joint action will be needed between the UK and EU to have any hope of reducing no deal damage. Not least in Northern Ireland. That makes continued negotiation inevitable (6/9)

@CBItweets So no, we're not ready. A lot needs to be done, by everyone.
That leaves -would it make a difference? Yes. And we should do what we can. But it's like putting sandbags down for a flood. Your kitchen's still going to be underwater but MAYBE we can save the bedrooms upstairs (7/9)

@CBItweets (The flood metaphor for no deal is pretty accurate btw because no deal disruption builds up over time, costs tons, creates a massive mess, and leaves the house/country permanently less valuable and even more unstable) (8/9)

@CBItweets So it's good to see Gov doing more to prepare for no deal. I'd quite like to see its plan for getting a deal up next so we never have to use these plans.

Will post more of our findings tomorrow. But if you're super dedicated, here's some bedtime reading cbi.org.uk/media/3093/wha…