A former head of the civil service has accused the government of being "neither honest nor open" about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit.

Lord Kerslake, who was in post from 2012 to 2014 and is now a Labour adviser, said "longer, more detailed" documents about the effects of such a scenario have yet to be published by the government.

Calling for their release, he told Sky News: "I think the public have the right to know exactly what the full story is. Not, after all, what is a five-page summary of a much more detailed analysis."

Lord Kerslake was referring to the Operation Yellowhammer document published on Wednesday.

Image: Lord Kerslake is an opponent of a no-deal Brexit who has in the past called for a second referendum

The document was disclosed after opposition MPs defeated the government in a Commons vote on Monday to order its publication.


The summary warns of the possibility of a rise in public disorder, delays lasting three months at Channel crossings, "significant" electricity price rises and impacts on medicine and food supplies.

MPs moved to force the release of the document after excerpts were leaked to The Sunday Times last month.

Lord Kerslake, an opponent of a no-deal Brexit who has called for a second referendum in the past, said apparent discrepancies between these two versions of the document showed the government was being "neither honest nor open".

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He said: "The leaked document was called the base scenario, which means it could be better or it could be worse.

"This document, the same document that's been published, is called the reasonable worst-case scenario, i.e. it suggests it is the worst possible scenario.

"And that I'm afraid is not honest in the way in which it's been done."

Image: There could be delays lasting three months at Channel crossings, the document warns

Following the publication of the paper, Michael Gove - the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the government minister in charge of no-deal planning - said: "The document is neither an impact assessment, nor a prediction of what is most likely to happen.

"It describes what could occur in a reasonable worst-case scenario, thus providing a deliberately stretching context for government planning to ensure that we are prepared for exit."

This was echoed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said on Thursday that the report was a "worst-case scenario" and that the government has been "massively accelerating" preparations since he took office.

Here is Michael Gove contradicting himself before the exiting the EU select committee last week - admitting Yellowhammer does say “base scenario” after denying it first pic.twitter.com/qxewNsHOfD — Rosamund Urwin (@RosamundUrwin) September 11, 2019

But Lord Kerslake took issue with this, saying: "Well I'm afraid that is also not honest.

"This document isn't that old, it was published in fact, or written, on 2 August, barely a few weeks ago.

"It's hard to believe that the circumstances, even with the acceleration of work, have moved on that much."

The "reasonable worst-case planning assumptions" of Operation Yellowhammer detail: