UK to ramp up ‘no-deal’ Brexit preparations amid impasse

LONDON (AP) — The British Cabinet was meeting Tuesday to discuss ramping up preparations for Britain’s departure from the European Union without a deal, after Prime Minister Theresa May postponed Parliament’s vote on her divorce agreement until mid-January.

The discussions are expected to centre on how two billion pounds in government funding to absorb the potential economic chaos is to be allocated.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire told the BBC that May’s government had been taking the prospect of no deal seriously for some time, but that it was “right and proper” to prepare for a disorderly Brexit.

But May’s Cabinet is divided between Brexiteers who think a no-deal departure could be managed to ease the economic shock and more pro-EU lawmakers who say no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs.

With Britain’s departure from the bloc just over 100 days away, it remains unclear whether the country will leave with a deal or crash out without one — an outcome that risks touching off gridlock at ports and shortages of goods as well as plunging the economy into recession.