Troops could be needed in case of civil unrest and to ensure the safe delivery of fuel and medical supplies, the minister said

The government must ensure that thousands of troops are available for deployment in the event that Britain leaves the EU without a deal, a leading minister has said.

Ministers at a no-deal Brexit planning meeting on Thursday were told that 30,000 regular troops and 20,000 reserves must be ready to help manage the consequences. Sources said that Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister, warned that troops may be needed in case of civil unrest, to help at airports and ensure the safe delivery of fuel and medical supplies. “He suggested that fellow ministers should remember what happened in the fuel blockade in 2000 [when troops were used to protect fuel deliveries] and plan for that kind of thing on a mass scale,” a source close to