Theresa May will today put Cabinet ministers on notice that no-deal Brexit plans will have to be activated in November if agreement is not reached with the EU.
The PM will spell out the timeline at a special Cabinet meeting to consider the consequences of a failure in negotiations with Brussels.
The gathering comes as ministers are set to unveil another tranche of papers on the preparations for the UK crashing out of the bloc.
The documents will confirm that drivers would need a new international licence to use their cars on the continent.
Britons with less than six months to run on their passports would also have to renew before travelling to the EU.
But the government will also reveal some good news – declaring that mobile phone companies have agreed there will be no extra roaming charges.
The Prime Minister’s (pictured today in Downing Street) Brexit blueprint imagines Britain following EU rules on goods to maintain existing trade, while striking out in other areas such as services
Meanwhile, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has opened another flank in the Brexit battle by threatening to slash the £39billion ‘divorce bill’ if Brussels refuses to compromise.
Mr Raab is meeting EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in the Belgian capital later today
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Raab said one of the consequences of a no-deal Brexit “is that obviously we wouldn’t pay out the money that has been agreed as part of the withdrawal agreement”.
The said the UK would “recognise our strict legal obligations” but that the amount paid would be “significantly, substantially lower” than the £39billion.
There are claims the figure could be more than halved if the EU blocks an agreement and the UK could slow down the timetable for paying the balance.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Raab insists that Britain will not compromise further.
‘We want a good deal that benefits the UK and EU,’ he wrote.
‘It remains our overriding priority, but it will require our EU friends to match the ambition and pragmatism we have demonstrated.’
He also writes that Britain has nothing to fear from a no deal scenario and dismisses ‘scaremongering nonsense’ about the country falling short of medicine and food.
‘If that doesn’t happen, regrettable and unlikely as it may be, the UK will manage the challenges of ‘no deal’ so that we make a success of Brexit,’ he writes.
His comments echo Theresa May’s stark warning yesterday that Britain’s £39billion divorce offer to Brussels will be slashed if the EU fails to grant a comprehensive trade deal.
The Prime Minister insisted it was a ‘specific offer’ made on the expectation of an acceptable agreement.
She warned the bloc that without a deal ‘the position changes’. Mrs May stressed that the UK was ‘a country that honours our obligations’. But sources suggested the divorce payment could be slashed by more than half if there is no deal.
Mrs May said: ‘The specific offer was made in the spirit of our desire to reach a deal with the European Union and on the basis, as the EU itself has said, that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Without a deal, the position changes.’
A second set of ‘technical notices’ outlining the preparations for a no-deal exit will be published today.
The 24 notices will also cover public procurement, vehicle standards and the future of co-operation with EU space programmes.
On mobiles, ministers will announce they have struck an agreement with the major mobile phone operators that will avoid a return to the exorbitant charges of the past.
Whitehall sources said Vodafone, Three, EE and O2, which account for 85 per cent of the market, have agreed the deal following months of talks with ministers. ‘Market forces suggest the others will follow suit,’ a source said last night.
Dominic Raab, UK exiting the European Union secretary, left and Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the European Union, shake hands following a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, on 31 August
The £45-a-month cap on mobile data in the EU will also remain, even if talks collapse.
On driving licences, motorists will need a new international licence to use their cars in the EU in the event of no deal. The EU is likely to refuse to recognise UK driving licences if Brexit talks collapse, a Department for Transport document will state.
An international driving licence will be needed for anyone driving in the EU after March 29, for hiring or obtaining insurance, unless Brussels or individual member states waive the rules. To complicate matters, there are two types of permit and different versions could be needed for different countries.
An EU notice issued last month said: ‘A driving licence issued by the UK will no longer be recognised by the member states.’
Ministers say the UK will continue to recognise EU licences.
Government sources said a Cabinet meeting today – the first of its kind – will be told that ministers will have to begin activating the no-deal contingency plans in November in order to have them up and running in time for the UK’s departure from the EU in March next year.
The timescale will intensify the pressure on both sides to strike a deal at a special EU Brexit summit now being pencilled in for the middle of November.
Brussels is sceptical about Mrs May’s willingness to leave without a deal. The new technical notices are designed to demonstrate to both Brussels and the public that the Government will be ready to leave at the end of March.
Mr Raab said: ‘We are stepping up our no-deal preparations so that Britain can continue to flourish, regardless of the outcome of negotiations.’
The EU Commission President (pictured making his State of the Union address) said the EU would work ‘day and night’ for a close relationship after the UK quits the bloc
Questioned in the House by Tory Chris Philp on whether the £39billion divorce bill would be withheld if there was no deal with the EU, Mrs May said Britain was a ‘country that honours our obligations’.
But she insisted it was ‘very clear that we need to have a link between the future relationship and the withdrawal agreement’.
‘The specific offer was made in our desire to reach a deal with the European Union,’ she said.
‘And on the basis, as the EU themselves have said, that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, without a deal the position changes.’