The Covid inquiry has shone a light on the government’s pandemic response. Now it’s time for scrutiny of another national disaster.

Former PM made ‘huge mistake’, says Michel Barnier – who backs Labour plan for post-Brexit veterinary deal.

In his rambling, incoherent 115-page witness statement to the Covid-19 inquiry, Dominic Cummings, the disgraced former senior adviser to disgraced former prime minister Boris Johnson, puts the blame for the Covid lockdowns on ‘the blob’ or as he describes it “insiders refusing to accept the referendum result”.

The UK’s only nation to border the EU was left to prepare for Brexit with no ministers, says Denis McMahon. / Preparing for a no-deal Brexit forced the Northern Ireland government to “cannibalise” departments, a senior civil servant has said.

Welsh health officials have said that preparations for a pandemic stalled in the run-up to coronavirus and that systems in place were too complex, as bereaved families said their loved ones “didn’t stand a chance”.

Record View says the blame lies with Boris Johnson’s government, which was determined to push through Brexit whatever the cost.

The former first minister says resources were diverted away from Covid planning in order to prepare for potential no-deal Brexit.

Nicola Sturgeon has blamed no-deal Brexit planning for diverting resources away from emergency planning at the Covid-19 public inquiry. / The former First Minister of Scotland said "every part of our work was impacted" by preparing for a potential no-deal exit from the EU.

Boris Johnson infamously said 'Brexit saved lives' earlier this year. Judging by these comments, it did precisely the opposite.

The government's preparation for a no-deal Brexit sometimes "took precedent" over planning for a pandemic, the UK Covid-19 public Inquiry has heard. / Ministers were aware in 2016 that "even a moderate pandemic would overrun" the "fragmented" pandemic preparedness system within the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), newly disclosed documents revealed on Monday.

Witnesses have criticised the British government’s pandemic preparations as part of a public inquiry into the country’s response to Covid-19.

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP, has criticised Boris Johnson’s “reprehensible decision” to prioritise Brexit over pandemic preparations.

The independent Covid inquiry has heard that Brexit may have interfered with and ‘crowded out’ the UK’s capacity to prepare for a pandemic.

Economic hardship and war have not pushed Europe’s nations apart, but closer together.

The threat of a no-deal Brexit is causing staff at several universities in the UK to stockpile scientific equipment, including protective gloves and fly food, New Scientist has learned.

‘Don’t listen to Brexiters’ madness’ and no deal could mean ‘harmful decisions’ – CEO

Boris Johnson agreed in the final hours of the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiations that there would be customs declarations on goods exiting Northern Ireland to Britain, despite the fact that just three weeks later he told businesses in the North there would be "no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind…," according to a detailed new account of the protocol negotiations.

But six years on, reality is kicking in and some of the most ardent Brexiteers - including the heads of major UK employers - are starting to change their tune.

Sky News can reveal that the government has taken out hundreds of gagging orders as part of its preparations for a no-deal Brexit. / The orders, formerly known as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), are legally binding contracts to stop confidential conversations being talked about in public.

Deep within the Northern Ireland protocol bill, ministers are making a sinister grab for yet more unchecked powers.

British Ambassador to Bucharest Andrew Noble said in an interview with HotNews.ro on Thursday that he'd not see anything good in a no-deal Brexit, but assured that even if his country leaves the EU without a deal, authorities there have mechanisms to preserve the status of Romanian citizens in the UK.

We may never know exactly what Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris intended to do with the information he tried to obtain on academics who teach about Brexit. But it certainly shouldn’t be treated as “just a polite request for information” as if this were some routine event.

Business chiefs and economists say huge disruption lies ahead if Downing Street triggers Article 16.

Such a move by the UK is likely to spark retaliation from the EU, with talk of a suspension of the EU-UK trade deal that could result in a trade war.

The move would plunge the UK into a no-deal Brexit.