Official briefing: UK facing risk of 'systemic economic crisis – The Guardian

The UK government is on a brink of a “systemic economic crisis” as it braces for departure from the European Union (EU) amidst a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Guardian reports, citing a confidential Cabinet Office briefing.  

Key takeaways

“Winter 2020 could see a combination of severe flooding, pandemic influenza, a novel emerging infectious disease and coordinated industrial action, against a backdrop of the end of the [Brexit] transition period.”

“The briefing, marked “official sensitive” and dated September, lays out for government planners the possible impacts of the last stage of Brexit, detailing “reasonable worst-case scenarios” across 20 different areas of national life from oil and healthcare to travel and policing.”

“It also summarises Whitehall’s views on the current state of the nation to provide context for those warnings, depicting a country struggling to overcome difficulties posed by one crisis, yet bracing for a second, as all departments are told to prepare for a “no deal” departure.”

Commenting on the leaked document, a No. 10 spokesperson said: “As a responsible government we continue to make extensive preparations for a wide range of scenarios, including the reasonable worst case. This is not a forecast or prediction of what will happen but rather a stretching scenario. It reflects a responsible government ensuring we are ready for all eventualities.”

Market reaction

The pound is unperturbed by the above piece of news, as GBP/USD keeps its recovery mode intact above 1.3050. The spot trades at 1.3063, up 0.06% on the day, as of writing.