Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290704 which states that there is no intelligence to suggest widespread public disorder, what the evidential basis was for the statement in paragraph 13 of the Yellowhammer document suggesting there may be a rise in public disorder and community tensions.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Police Coordination (NPoCC) to determine the impact of EU Exit on policing and to plan accordingly. There is no intelligence to suggest that there will be widespread disorder, however the planning assumptions contained within the Yellowhammer document were formed through professional judgements to inform the reasonable worst case scenario for No Deal EU Exit.

How the contingency plans are delivered is an operational matter for the police. They have tried and tested mobilisation plans for responding to a wide range of scenarios. We are working with the National Police Chiefs Council and National Police Coordination Centre to ensure the plans are appropriate for a No Deal EU Exit including any requirements for the provision of mutual aid.