The UK is preparing a supplies flotilla strategy for a no-deal Brexit - Financial Times

According to the Financial Times, the UK government is beginning to prepare for the worst as the reality of a no-deal Brexit begins to come crashing down around them, and Britain is scrambling to pull together plans for cargo ships to continue delivering essential supplies to the UK following a hard exit from the European Union.

Key quotes

"Britain is drawing up plans to charter ships to bring in food and medicines in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit next March, in a move greeted with disbelief at a stormy meeting of Theresa May’s cabinet on Tuesday. The cabinet was told that the heavily used Dover-Calais route could quickly become blocked by new customs controls on the French side, forcing Britain to seek alternative ways of bringing in “critical supplies”."

"The prospect of Britain facing shortages of perishable food and medicines provided a bleak backdrop to the cabinet discussions, as Mrs May urged her ministers to back her attempts to secure a breakthrough. The prime minister announced there would now be a weekly cabinet discussion on preparations for Brexit, whether under a deal or no-deal scenario. “The government’s priority is to secure a deal,” Mrs May told her cabinet."

"David Lidington, Mrs May’s de facto deputy, briefed the cabinet that under a no-deal Brexit, the Dover-Calais route could be running at only 12-25 per cent of its normal capacity for up to six months. “Whatever we do at our end, the French could cause chaos if they carry out checks at their end,” said one government official. “Dover-Calais would be the obvious pinch point. The French would say they were only applying the rules.” "