Brexit news - live: Medicine charter flights and drug rationing may be enforced if UK leaves EU with no deal, government admits
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A no-deal Brexit could see charter planes used to fly in drugs to prop up the NHS and medicines given priority access through gridlocked ports, health secretary Matt Hancock has said.
The minister also revealed the government was consulting on plans for chemists to ration medication so that patients can retain access to vital treatments in the event of shortages caused by the UK’s withdrawal.
His remarks come as embattled prime minister Theresa May was criticised by backbench Tory rebels and the DUP over her “desperate” comprise efforts to attract support for her beleaguered deal.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the day's Brexit events.
Health secretary Matt Hancock leads the news this morning by admitting that drug rationing and the possibility of medicines being flown in to the UK by charter flight to bolster the NHS could happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
He defended the government's preparations for a no-deal outcome but stressed that the potential problems were a reason to back Theresa May's plan in the crunch December 11 vote.
The Times reported that a consultation launched by the Department for Health and Social Care called for rapid changes to medicine rules to "support the continuity of supply of medicines in a 'no-deal' scenario".
The government wants to enable ministers to issue a "serious shortage protocol" for pharmacies to follow, the newspaper said.
It "could be issued in case of a serious national shortage and would enable community pharmacists and other dispensers to dispense in accordance with the protocol rather than the prescription without contacting the GP".
Ministers would order pharmacists to dispense a "reduced quantity" of the medicine, an "alternative dosage form", a "therapeutic equivalent" or a "generic equivalent".
Here's The Independent's health correspondent Alex Matthews-King with the full story:
Meanwhile, the DUP and Tory rebels have poured cold water over a “desperate” compromise bid to win over MPs to Theresa May’s Brexit deal, ahead of a Commons showdown that threatens her leadership and her government.
Backbench Tories tabled an amendment to next week’s meaningful vote that would give MPs some control over the Irish backstop, a controversial insurance policy which aims to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Under the plans – which are said to be sanctioned by Downing Street – parliament would decide whether to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020.
The Independent's political correspondent Lizzy Buchan has more on the developing rift:
Boris Johnson has meanwhile come forward to denounce Theresa May's Brexit deal as similar to the conditions that might be imposed on the losing side after a war.
Writing on Facebook, Mr Johnson said that the backstop "hands the EU the indefinite power to bully and blackmail this country to get whatever it wants in the future negotiations", because it denies the UK the power to leave without agreement from Brussels.
Predicting that France will use this advantage to "plunder" UK fishing waters, Spain will "make another push for Gibraltar" and Germany will demand concessions on migration, the former foreign secretary said: "It is quite incredible that any government could agree to such terms.
"They resemble the kind of diktat that might be imposed on a nation that has suffered a military defeat."
In further bad news for Ms May, a new Ipsos Mori poll has found that almost two-thirds of voters (62 per cent) think it would be a bad thing for the UK to leave the EU under the terms she has secured from Brussels.
Four days before MPs pass judgment on the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement in a House of Commons vote on 11 December, just 25 per cent of those questioned said Ms May's deal was a good thing.
The poll for The Evening Standard showed no consensus over what path the government should take if the vote is lost on Tuesday.
Among those questioned, 20 per cent would support a second referendum pitting Leave against Remain and the same proportion said the UK should quit the EU with no deal.
Some 19 per cent said the government should seek better terms from the EU, 11 per cent that Brexit should be scrapped without a referendum, 10 per cent wanted a referendum on Ms May's deal alone and 10 per cent a general election.
Almost half (47 per cent) of Conservative supporters said leaving under Mrs May's deal would be a bad outcome for the UK.
However, 50 per cent of all those questioned said Ms May should stay on as PM if her plan is voted down, compared with 43 per cent who thought she should stand down.
Despite some reports this morning suggesting Theresa May was considering postponing Tuesday's crunch vote on Brexit in the Commons in order to avoid a crushing landslide defeat, the PM's spokesman has confirmed the ballot of ministers will go ahead as scheduled.
Here's Andrew Grice for Indy Voices on the current atmosphere in Westminster:
The exodus of senior figures from Ukip continues in the week when the party lost Nigel Farage, the man who became the poster boy for Brexit in 2016, over opposition to leader Gerard Batten's decision to appoint far-right activist Tommy Robinson as an adviser.
Former leader Paul Nuttall and Scottish leader David Coburn are the latest to head for the door.
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