“This operation yellow hammer leak is the version of what the contingency executive put together.” 1/6
“We remember attending a briefing on privy council terms which they said was not worst case but reasonable worst case. Theresa May had asked for this to be done. It was obviously project fear dressed up.” 2/6
“For example, on the delays at the port we asked if they had discussed their expectation with the port authorities of Calais/pas du Nord who had already said that there would be no extra delays at Calais and they said, (after a great deal of shuffling of feet) ‘no’.” 3/6
“We asked why not and they said they had not been asked to do so. There were other areas where it was clear they had not been asked to get balance but instead dress up previous versions other worst case scenarios.” 4/6
“The whole thing was an attempt to frighten us and didn’t stand up to scrutiny. We have never seen officials look so uneasy under questioning.” 5/6
”The fact that this document was ‘found’ in a Westminster Pub tells you all you need to know about this continuing establishment plot to sow fear in people’s minds.
This is an abuse of the proper use of the civil Service and must be stopped.” 6/6
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1a. Philip Hammond as Chancellor imposed a recruitment freeze on HMRC in November 2017, making it impossible to recruit new staff for an independent customs regime. This ban was in place for a number of months.
1b. ...Of course it increased pressure on existing staff, who had to deliver their normal workload as well as designing and preparing for new Brexit systems. Had he been serious about preparing for Brexit he would have been hiring external expertise.
2a. In the early spring of 2018, Hammond ordered work to stop on a new software system to be used as part of customs facilitations on the Irish border. I only know this because a colleague who was involved with it told me he had been having an awful day dealing with the fallout..