The UK could face a chaotic no-deal Brexit under Boris Johnson in barely a year, a damning leaked document has signalled.
The government paper warns it will be a "major strategic, political and operational challenge" to have arrangements for Northern Ireland in place by a cut-off date of December 2020.
And that's not even to mention Boris Johnson's bid to get a full-blown trade deal with the EU in that time too.
The leaked paper from the Brexit Department, obtained by the Financial Times, punches a hole in the Tory leader's claim he will get Brexit done and dusted by January 31.
Mr Johnson is only promising to secure Britain's withdrawal - not the future relationship - by January 31.
So far, the debate has focused on a free trade deal with the EU - and whether he can fulfil his pledge to get it sorted in the 11-month transition period.
But today's leaked paper suggests the problem goes deeper than that.
Mr Johnson replaced Theresa May's 'backstop' with a complicated system in Northern Ireland, where it will share customs rules with the UK but single market rules with the EU.
Firms sending goods from Britain to Belfast, across the Irish Sea, will have to fill out customs declaration forms - in case the goods end up moving into the EU at a later date.
But according to the FT, the leaked report warns: "Delivery of the required infrastructure, associated systems, and staffing to implement the requirements of the (Northern Ireland) protocol by December 2020 represents a major strategic, political and operational challenge."
The Brexit Department told the FT it “did not comment on leaks” but a Conservative spokesman said: “Our new deal with the EU takes the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, out of the EU.
“A Conservative majority government will implement this deal and agree a trade agreement next year. In doing so we will strengthen our union and we will not extend the implementation period beyond December 2020.”
Last week, Labour released a leaked Treasury report that said customs checks and possibly even tariffs could be required on goods travelling in both directions between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
But Mr Johnson told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme that the report was "wrong" and added that the six counties would have "unfettered access" to the UK market.
That is despite public documents saying there will be declarations at least on goods going east to west.
Critics fear there is no chance of a trade deal by December 2020 so Britain will plunge into a no-deal Brexit.
Yet Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak has said there is no need for further no-deal Brexit planning.
Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether "no-deal planning" would resume if the Conservatives win a majority on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: "We won't need to plan for no-deal because we will have a deal."
He added: "There is going to be a trade deal... everyone said we wouldn't be able to get this deal, we have got this deal."
He continued: "The trade deal, the outlines of it, the framework of it, is already there contained in the political declaration in quite a lot of detail and talks about an ambitious, comprehensive trading relationship with close cooperation on security, on economic matters.
"And we can go and sort the details of that over the course of next year."
