32
Thisaccountofthefirst 24 hoursofa no-dealBrexit
is basedoninterviews,governmentdocuments,
andacademicresearch.Thepeopledescribedare
real,asaretheirviewsonBrexit.Dialogueis real
andfaithfullyrenderedfromactualinteractionsbut
projectedintothenearfuture.Brexitmightnotplay
outthisway.PrimeMinisterBorisJohnsoncould
reacha dealwiththeEuropeanUnion.Parliament’s
attemptstoblocka no-dealdeparturecouldsucceed
ordelaytheinevitable.Johnsoncouldbebootedfrom
office.Wewon’tknowuntilweknow.● 11P.M.,OCT.31,WESTMINSTER,LONDON
The digital Brexit countdown clock in Boris
Johnson’sofficeatNo. 10 DowningSt.reads 00 Days,
00:00:00inreddigits.TheU.K.haslefttheEU.
EvenafteranastonishingSupremeCourtrul-
ingin Septemberthat heillegallysuspended
Parliament,theprimeministerignoreda lawforc-
inghimtoasktheEUfora delayanddelivered
Brexitanyway.Hisfinalpitchtoextractconcessions
atanOct. 17 summitendedinfailure,leavingno
alternative:It hadtobeno-deal.Hesaidit duringhis
leadershipcampaign,andhemeantit—thecountry
wouldleavetheEUonschedule,“doordie.”
Astheclockstrikeszero,theprimeminister
isn’tinhisoffice.Instead,he’sat 70 Whitehall,
ensconcedina cabinetofficebriefingroom(or
Cobra),theBritishgovernment’snervecenter
duringemergencies.OperationYellowhammer,
thecodenamefortheno-dealBrexitcontingency
plan,is infullswing.
A dealwould’vegiventheU.K.a graceperiodto
prepareforlifeoutsidetheEU.Instead,theimmedi-
aterupturehasleftthecountryaloneontheworld
stageforthefirsttimesincetheearly1970s.It’sgone
frombeingthegatewaytoEuropetoanisolated
nationstrippedofmajortradingrelationships.
The poundisina dive.Johnsonpassesan
anxious handthroughhisperpetually untidy
blondhair.Hedearlywantstoavoidchaosand
disruption—scenesliketheonesunfoldingoutside.
Onthebankofscreensatoneendoftheroom,a
helicoptershotshowsanti-Brexitprotestersswarm-
ingWestminster.CounterprotestersbrandishUnion
Jacks. So far, there’s been no significant violence.● 11:30 P.M., JUST OUTSIDE FOLKESTONE,
KENT, SOUTHEAST ENGLAND
A dark blue Mercedes van hurtles down the motor-
way toward the white cliffs of Dover. The 007 theme
blares from a Samsung Galaxy S7. Roger Moore—the
65-year-old driver for courier company JJX Logistics,
not the deceased actor known for his license to kill—
answers. On the line is his boss, John, calling fromtheheadofficeinDudley.“How’sit going,Rog?”
“Allgood,John,notroubleatall.Traffic’scom-
pletelyclear.”Theroadsarequieterthanusual,and
he’smakinggoodtime.Inthebackofthevanare
woodencratespackedwithAirbusplanepartsthat
needtobeinParisbyearlytomorrow.Afterhe’s
crossedthechannel,Moorewillbecomeoneofthe
firstBritonsinfourdecadestoentertheContinent
asa non-EUcitizen.Abouttime,too,hethinks:He
wasamongthe17.4millionwhovotedLeave.
At the Eurotunnel complex, he joins his
co-workerChrisandwaitstodriveontothetrainthat
willcarrythemthroughthe31-mile-longChannel
Tunnel.Nexttothedeparturesmonitor,a TVshows
a liveBBCNewsBrexitspecial.
“Thisis gonnamakeuspoorer,this,”Chrissays,
noddingatthescreen.HevotedRemain.
“Noit isn’t,”Mooresays.
“Yesit is.”
Theygobackandforthuntiltheirtrainis called.
AtDover, 10 milestotheeast,theport’schiefexec-
utiveofficer,DougBannister,54,is inthemiddleof
a stringofpressinterviews.“ThePortofDoveris
100%ready,”Bannistersays,gesturingattheflowing
traffic.Still,hesays,“We’reanticipatingthatthere’s
goingtobedisruption.”Thegovernmenthassetup
fiveinlandsitestoprocesstrucksandensurethey
havecorrectexportpaperwork.“Whetherthey’llbe
successfulornot,weneedtosee,”hesays.
ThePortofDoverandtheChannelTunnelare
twoofBritain’smostimportanttradearteries.As
manyas10,000trucksrumbleontoferriesevery
day,carryinga sixthofalltradeingoods,while
6,000lorriesperdaycrossontheundersearail
link.Increasingprocessingtimesbyjust2 minutes
onaveragecouldleadto17-mile-longtrafficjamsand
60-hourdelays.
Moore sips a Starbucks Americano as he
approachestheborder,wherea U.K.officiallooksat
hispassportandwaveshimthrough.AttheFrench
checkpoint,hegivesa cheery“Bonjour!”
“Bonjour,monsieur,”thewomanreplies,peer-
ingathisID.A lengthypause.“Allez-y”—goahead.
EveryexportcomingfromtheU.K.totheEU
nowneedsa declarationform,andJJX’scustoms
agent has handled all the appropriate paperwork.
In total, about 200,000 traders need to make export
declarations for the first time. Thankfully, Moore
came prepared. He rolls his van onto a ramp and
then down onto the train.
In 36 minutes he’s on French soil. He joins a
smooth-moving queue in a “green” lane for com-
pliant freight and starts to exit the port. He notices
French customs officials directing other trucks into
an “amber” lane, which is filling up.Strictly
speaking, Jazz
McDonnell
is now a
smuggler◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek September 30, 2019