The British government yesterday downplayed its own assessment that a no-deal Brexit could cause food and medicine shortages, gridlock at ports and riots, asserting that the six-page document on Operation Yellowhammer preparations for a split from the European Union outlined a worst-case scenario.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the bleak scenario was "not where we intend to end up".

Separately, he received a boost after a Belfast court rejected claims that the British government's Brexit strategy will harm Northern Ireland's peace process.