France triggers 'hard Brexit' plan and warns that no deal is 'less and less unlikely'

France has triggered contingency plans for a hard Brexit, as the prime minister warned a no deal scenario was "less and less unlikely”.

After a cabinet meeting the wake of Theresa May’s parliamentary defeat on her EU divorce deal, Edouard Philippe, the French prime minister, said: "What's certain is that the scenario of a no-deal Brexit is less and less unlikely. That’s why... I have decided to trigger the plan for a no-deal Brexit.”

The plan earmarks €50 million (£44m) of investment in French ports and airports, the areas “most concerned by the changes needed" in the event of Britain leaving the EU without an accord.

"In some ports that will be the construction of car parks, in others it will be the establishment of infrastructure for carrying out checks," said Mr Philippe.

His government will start hiring 580 extra government employees including vets and customs agents to manage cross-border trade and security, he added.

The UK Parliament massively rejected Mrs May's Brexit deal with the European Union on Tuesday night. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately called for a no-confidence vote, but Mrs May's government survived that on Wednesday night.

The French Senate is due on Thursday to complete the adoption of a bill allowing the government to take emergency measures by decree if necessary after March 30 in the event Britain leaves without a deal. The legislation was approved by the lower National Assembly on Wednesday.

"We want to be ready to protect the interests of our citizens," Mr Philippe said.

"Our objective is at the same time to respect our obligations, to make sure that the lives of our citizens and, in a way, British citizens living in France, are impacted as little as possible," he added.

He said the government was also preparing a plan to support France’s fishing industry, “which risks being hard-hit by this no-deal exit,” he warned.

France’s no-deal Brexit bill includes five decrees, which are expected to be rubber-stamped by the council of state on January 23.

The first ring fences certain rights of Britons living in France. On condition of “reciprocity”, the decree allows Britons to “continue living in France without a stay permit” for 12 months, during which they can apply for authorisation to remain in the country. It will “preserve the social rights” they have accrued until the date of Brexit, allow British companies settled in France in regulated sectors to remain along with Britons employed as civil servants in France.

A second decree will trigger emergency infrastructure works required due to stricter border customs checks and will “lighten certain formalities”.

A third will allow British-based companies to continue “road transport operations in France” and deliver security clearance for the Eurotunnel between Dover and Calais.

A fourth will “permit the continuation of certain financial activities, in particular in terms of insurance, following the loss of Britain’s financial passport”.

A final fifth decree will authorise “the pursuit of defence equipment transfers between France and Britain”.

In a statement, the prime minister’s office said the measures would be necessary to “preserve the European common market while maintaining the greatest possible fluidity of goods and people”.

The finance minister was tasked with raising awareness among French businesses, “in particular SMEs”, about the ramifications of a hard Brexit.

The interior and Europe ministers were tasked with informing British and French expatriates of the situation.

“Brexit will be a change but we are determined to maintain an excellent level of integration between our two countries,” said the government, pointing to a special Brexit website it has set up since December 1.

The statement ends by stipulating these were “contingency measures” that would be proceed “for as long as the prospects for Britain’s orderly exit of the EU are not clarified by the British government”.

The hard-Brexit plans were launched two days after President Emmanuel Macron said he strongly doubted that the UK would leave the EU without a deal, saying it would be “the first losers” in such a scenario.

Speaking to hundreds of mayors during a debate on resolving France’s “yellow vest” crisis on Tuesday evening, he predicted the UK would “ask for more time” after a second parliamentary vote on a rejigged Brexit bill but all-but ruled out EU concessions to “resolve a domestic political problem”.

He also lashed out at the way the run-up to the Brexit vote in Britain was run, saying: “People were lied to and what they chose wasn’t possible. After that, good luck to national officials in enacting something that doesn’t exist,” he said.