‘No Deal’ Minister Michael Gove is moving 2,000 Whitehall staff to help with Brexit
BREXIT no deal chief Michael Gove will move two thousand staff across Whitehall to aid leaving the EU in October, we can reveal.
Senior Cabinet Ministers are re-deploying civil servants from ‘donor’ departments such as education and international aid to ensure a smooth Halloween exit.
There are currently already 16,000 government workers working on the UK’s exit from the EU with plans discussed daily.
Vital roles need to be filled in Transport, environment and Brexit departments along with HMRC. A similar pattern of staff moves happened into the botched exit day in March.
Mr Gove will lead the discussions as part of the Daily Operations Committee - known as XO - who are meeting every weekday in the Cabinet Office.
Other members involved include Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and attorney general Geoffrey Cox.
Gove last week said “the entire machinery of government will work flat-out to prepare for no deal”.
Boris Johnson will chair the Exit Strategy committee which will meet twice a week.
GOVE 24HR ACTION RULE
MICHAEL Gove is demanding “same-day delivery” for his plans to avoid No Deal chaos.
The minister, who runs the Brexit war room in the Cabinet Office — called XO for Exit Operations — has told officials all approved action must be enacted in 24 hours.
The PM says his “assumption” is to get a deal with the EU but added it is “absolutely right” the country prepares for no deal.
He has said that the chances of a no deal scenario as being a “million to one”.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “We are delivering this Government’s commitment to leave the EU on 31st October, and are redeploying civil servants to ensure we have the right people and skills in place to meet high-priority EU Exit roles.”
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