The Observer view on Boris Johnson's imminent no-deal Brexit | Editorial

The prime minister's gung-ho actions will irreparably damage Britain and its reputation

The shambolic, self-destructive and humiliating consequences of Brexit are finally coming into sharp focus. The emerging picture is worse than its most pessimistic opponents feared. As the mist of lies, illusions and jingoism created by Boris Johnson and other Tory opportunists lifts, we see not the sunlit uplands of a newly liberated nation but endless queues of fuming diesel lorries, fouling the air and blocking the lanes of the Garden of England.

Miles-long lorry jams are but the most visible aspect of the approaching no-deal nightmare. The strangulation of Britain's ports is already under way. Operators report unprecedented container backlogs, with some deliveries cancelled altogether. This is not a mere logistical, pandemic-related hiccup. It is an augury of panic-inducing food and medicine shortages, rising prices, and huge economic pain.