Former Tory former cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson claimed the leak of documents on ‚Operation Yellowhammer‘ was an example of the ‚establishment‘ plot to ‚sow fear in people‘s minds‘.

In a joint statement, they said: ‚This Operation Yellowhammer leak is the version of what the contingency executive put together. We remember attending a briefing on privy council terms which they said was not worst case but reasonable worst case. Theresa May had asked for this to be done. It was obviously Project Fear dressed up.