In other news, using data from the United Nations, the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) estimates that as many as 1.2 billion people could be displaced by climate change in just the next 30 years. So, in the lifetime of most people reading this.
Meanwhile, the British government is predicting that under the most "reasonable worst case" scenario, lines of trucks up to 7,000 deep could pile up at trading borders because of the Brexit.
In a letter to Britain’s border industry, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the flow of freight between Dover and Calais -- a vital trade artery -- could be reduced by as much as 80% from normal levels. The government’s worst-case assessment is that as many as 70% of trucks traveling to the EU may not be ready for new border controls, according to the letter.
And in related news, the Guardian editorial board is finally calling the Brexit a fraud.
The prospect of a Brexit-induced queue of 7,000 lorries at Dover, each one requiring a permit to enter the county of Kent, would once have been dismissed by leave campaigners as baseless fearmongering. Now it is the government’s “reasonable worst-case scenario” for the end of transitional arrangements with the EU on 31 December.
The grim scene was set out on Wednesday by Michael Gove, who told parliament that Britain did not yet have an operational border ready for the abrupt reintroduction of regulations and checks necessary to clear a new frontier with Europe’s customs union and single market. [...]
In a letter to cabinet colleagues, Mr Gove noted that problems at Channel ports will arise “irrespective of the outcome of negotiations”. In other words, the Brexit model that is expected to disrupt the passage of freight, increase the burden of bureaucracy, reduce the volume of trade and slow the economy is one chosen by Mr Johnson. The “reasonable worst case” that ministers warn about is not some accident or unintended consequence. It is a function of the plan they hailed last year as a triumph. And if no deal is done, even worse scenarios are feasible.
Mr Johnson is creating borders where there were none, inflicting cost where none was previously levied, erecting barriers, closing doors and calling it freedom. As the moment of implementation nears, the fraud inherent in the whole enterprise is getting harder to conceal.
I mean, yes, but also -- no shit? I swear we've been saying this for four years. Where the hell has the British media been?
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