British prime minister Theresa May has stepped up the government’s preparations in case Brexit negotiations break down and the country has to leave the European Union without a deal next year.
Bloomberg reported that May is planning top-level meeting of her cabinet ministers early in September to discuss how to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit.
The negotiations are stuck over two key issues: May’s proposals for a new free-trade area spanning the U.K. and the EU; and how to avoid a hard land border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Ensuring there’s no return to hard border infrastructure and customs checks at the frontier is seen as politically vital to maintain the peace on the island of Ireland.
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 2019.