Documents warning of food, fuel and medicine shortages after no-deal Brexit should be kept secret because they will scare people, Andrea Leadsom has said.
The business secretary suggested that Boris Johnson will defy parliament's order to release Operation Yellowhammer documents, adding that it would only serve to "concern people".
“I actually do not think that it serves people well to see what is the absolutely worst thing that can happen,” Ms Leadsom told BBC Breakfast Time.
She also downplayed the possible impacts of the no-deal scenario set out in the documents by comparing the risk of two-and-a-half day delays at ports to getting hit by a car.
"The worst thing that could happen to me is I could walk out of her and get run over," she said.
"It is not a prediction, but it is something that could happen and simply putting out there all of the possible permutations of what could happen actually just serves to concern people – whereas what the government is doing is working flat out to ensure that in all circumstances, including in the event of no-deal, that we have a smooth transition for the United Kingdom.”
It comes as tonight's 11pm deadline approaches for the government to comply with parliament’s instruction to release the Yellowhammer documents.
MPs voted by 311 to 302 in favour of the motion, led by former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve, on Monday in yet another defeat for the prime minister.
The deadline also applies to WhatsApp, Facebook, text messages and personal emails from No 10 advisers, in a bid to prove Mr Johnson prorogued parliament because of Brexit, despite his denials.
Downing Street has yet to say if it will comply with the order.
The Yellowhammer file also warned that efforts to avoid the return of a hard Irish border are likely to prove “unsustainable”.
“Disruption to key sectors and job losses are likely to result in protests and direct action with road blockages,” it said.
