Jacob Rees-Mogg challenged by top doctor over no-deal Brexit dangers

Jacob Rees-Mogg was confronted over concerns no-deal Brexit could lead to higher mortality rates
REUTERS
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A consultant neurologist who helped the Government plan for a no-deal Brexit today confronted Jacob Rees-Mogg over concerns the mortality rate could be affected if the UK crashes out of the EU.

Dr David Nicholl said he was involved in drafting the plans for mitigating a no-deal scenario in March, and Operation Yellowhammer — which revealed “worst-case scenario” preparations.

He called in to LBC radio to ask the Leader of the House of Commons what level of mortality rate he would be “willing to accept” in the event of a no-deal.

Questioned about why he thought people would die, Dr Nicholl said: “Because of all sorts of problems and there is issues of access to drugs, the issue of radioisotopes, they’ve already been highlighted.”

According to Government documents, drugs have been categorised by the expected impact of shortages and there are reserve plans to fly them in if necessary.

Mr Rees-Mogg said: “I don’t think there is any reason that a no-deal Brexit should lead to a mortality rate.”

He added plans were now being written by people who are “serious about mitigating rather than remoaners”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in