Secret Brexit Reports Given To MPs…But The Public Still May Not See Them

Secret reports on how Brexit will impact the UK economy have been handed over to MPs by the Government – but they still might not be made public.

David Davis’s department has given around 800 pages analysis to the Brexit Select Committee, which covers 39 different sectoral reports.

Those reports take in 58 different parts of the UK economy, ranging from aerospace and aviation to tourism and legal services.

However, ministers have removed from the reports anything they deem could harm the UK’s negotiating position with the EU,

The Brexit Committee will meet on Tuesday morning to discuss which parts of the reports can be made public, and whether any sections should remain secret.

 Labour MP Seema Malhotra, who sits on the Committee, said: “It seems like the Government have already decided what should and should not be seen by editing them before sending the impact studies to the Select Committee.

“David Davis has publicly stated for months that the reports are complete. In evidence to the Select Committee he had said they were ‘in excruciating detail’. In November, his Department was saying they ‘didn’t exist’. British businesses and families deserve better than this. They need certainty for their futures.

“The Select Committee must be given the full analyses which were completed and nothing less. We cannot and should not be short-changed. This will not be in the national interest. The public and Parliament must no longer be kept in the dark.”

The Government were opposed to making the documents public as they feared it would harm the UK’s negotiating position.

Ministers agreed to give the Brexit Select Committee the Government’s analysis of how leaving the EU could affect 58 sectors of the economy on November 1.

However, it took nearly four weeks for the papers to be handed over, leading to fears crucial information was being taken out of the reports.

A spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: “The Government has satisfied the motion — providing the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee with information covering 58 sectors of the economy. We have also shared the information with the Lords EU Committee.

“We have always been clear that our analysis does not exist in the form Parliament requested. We have taken time to bring together the analysis we do have in a way that meets Parliament’s specific ask.

“Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and is continuously updated. This sectoral analysis is simply one part of it.”