Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the date of completion of the Cabinet Office Review, code-named Operation Yellowhammer, that was published in the Sunday Times on 18 August.

As is the usual practice, we do not comment on leaked documents. Any leak is unacceptable and the leak of any information is disappointing. However, On 11^th September 2019 we published an iteration of the planning assumptions which largely reflect the work carried out under the previous government, which are dated 2 August.

Operation Yellowhammer is a cross government programme of work to ensure that government is prepared to mitigate the potential impacts of Brexit in the event that the UK leaves without a deal. The programme is underpinned by planning assumptions that are not a prediction of what is going to happen, but reflect a responsible Government preparing for reasonable worst-case scenarios. A reasonable worse case assumption provides a challenging and stretching scenario to aid planning. Such an approach is good risk management.

We are currently undertaking a review of the reasonable worst case scenario planning assumptions for Operation Yellowhammer and will publish the revised version in due course. As you’d expect, the assumptions are under constant review, particularly as our preparations advance at pace.