NAO boss warns Theresa May: Brexit process could fall apart like a chocolate orange
2 min read
Theresa May’s plan for Brexit could “fall apart like a chocolate orange” if she fails to hold Government departments together through the process, the head of the National Audit Office has warned.
In an astonishing intervention, Sir Amyas Morse said he was yet to see a unified approach from ministers rather than simply “vague” assurances.
Amyas Morse said he demanded to see a ministerial plan to guide departments through the structural and legal challenges facing the UK as it quits the EU but has so far been denied.
In a rare interview with reporters which illustrates his level of concern he said: “Leaving the EU is a negotiation.
“It means the results are uncertain and [departments] need to be fast and flexible and react in a unified way. We have an issue there because we have departmental government.
“What we don’t want to find is that at the first tap it falls apart like a chocolate orange. It needs to be coming through like a cricket ball.”
Sir Amyas added: “There has to be strong integration. To have things start to go wrong and then say, ‘Oops, perhaps we might have to be a bit better integrated’ really is second best.”
He said “wouldn’t be speaking like this” if he thought the right co-ordinated approach to Brexit across Whitehall was in place.
“It is symptomatic of whether the government is really able to drive this across departments or whether we leave each department to struggle with it on their own,” he warned.
It comes as the NAO warned the new system for handling customs checks might not be ready by the time of Brexit – putting tax collection, international trade and the UK’s international reputation at risk.
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