CBI says EU is ‘less prepared’ than UK for no-deal Brexit

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director general, Carolyn Fairbairn has urged both the UK and Brussels to reach a comprise to reach a deal.

Fairbairn told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today Programme that avoiding a no deal Brexit outcome must be the “number one priority” for Johnson’s government.

However, she said the UK is now more prepared than the EU to leave without a deal on 31 October.

Fairbairn was asked if the EU was conducting their own “Operation Yellowhammer,” she said, “The work that the CBI did a few months ago and published last month shows that if anything the EU is less prepared than the UK.

“There are costs very much on both sides. And we would hope that these conversations this week are productive and are focused on getting a deal and that there is a compromise on both sides.

“I think that what Yellowhammer does show is just how incredibly serious for our economy a no-deal outcome would be.

“It is difficult to predict exactly what the outcome could be but in terms of our conversations with businesses over the years, these feel like plausible outcomes.”

She warned, “We would also totally agree with Michael Gove in terms of the importance of preparation.

“Business does have to prepare but I think, above all else, what this shows is that we must be trying to get a deal.

“And that must be the number-one priority of government.”

The Sunday Times reported in a no-deal Brexit the UK will be hit with fuel, fresh food and medical shortages along with a three-month period of chaos across ports, with a hard border in Ireland, leaked documents reveal.

The leaked documents were written by the Cabinet Office and are called “Operation Yellowhammer.”