Funding for Brexit has now doubled to £4.2bn this year alone with £6.3bn being spent in total, the Treasury has said.
A cash boost of £1.1bn will be made available immediately to prepare “critical areas” for an EU exit on October 31 while the extra £1bn will be used “should it be needed”.
Chancellor Sajid Javid said: “With 92 days until the UK leaves the European Union it’s vital that we intensify our planning to ensure we are ready.
“We want to get a good deal that abolishes the anti-democratic backstop. But if we can’t get a good deal, we’ll have to leave without one.
“This additional £2.1bn will ensure we are ready to leave on 31 October deal or no deal.”
Customs and border operations will receive £344m, which will help recruit an extra 500 border force officers meaning the government has added up to 1,000 more officers this year.
A further £434m will be used to ensure the continued supply of vital medicines and medical products and £108m will be made available to support businesses handle a no deal Brexit.
The Treasury also confirmed a large-scale advertising campaign worth £138m “to help people and businesses get ready to leave on October 31”, as reported in The Telegraph.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell called the announcement “an appalling waste of taxpayers’ cash”.
“This government could have ruled out no deal, and spent these billions on our schools, hospitals, and people.”
Earlier this week Boris Johnson announced a £3.6bn fund to support 100 ‘left behind towns’ in England.
Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson told PF yesterday that an emergency Budget before Britain leaves the EU would be an “extraordinarily bad idea”.
