UK plans rehearsals for no-deal Brexit amid fears of road, port chaos

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will begin rehearsals for the possible chaos of a no-deal Brexit on Monday by testing how the road network copes with a tailback of around 150 lorries caused by disruption at its most important trading gateway to continental Europe. Prime Minister Theresa May is trying to force her Brexit deal through parliament but if it is rejected then the United Kingdom will either leave without a deal at 2300 GMT on March 29 or have to delay Brexit. May has repeatedly warned that if lawmakers do not approve her deal then the world’s fifth largest economy will leave the EU without one, a nightmare scenario for many big businesses who fear disruption to trade. Britain will hold a trial run on Monday of its plans for dealing with long queues of lorries at the port of Dover caused by disruption to cross-Channel traffic in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Department for Transport said. The test will involve driving around 150 trucks between a local airport, which will be used as a lorry park, and Dover in southeast England to see if it clogs up the road network. “We do not want or expect a no-deal scenario and continue to work hard to deliver a deal with the EU,” a spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said. “However, it is the duty of a responsible government to continue to prepare for all eventualities and contingencies, including a possible no-deal.” May’s government has repeatedly warned of the disruption a no-deal Brexit would unleash on everything from pet tourism to the import of crucial medicines and supply chains that criss-cross Europe and beyond. Brexit supporters say that, while there may be some short-term disruption, in the long-term the UK will thrive outside what they cast as an undemocratic and excessively bureaucratic project dominated by Germany. Amid the uncertainty over the future course of Brexit, the British economy is showing clear signs of slowing.