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| Labour vows to force Government to publish secret Brexit reports laying bare economic damage | Labour vows to force Government to publish secret Brexit reports laying bare economic damage |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Labour vowed to win a Commons vote to force the release of the secret analysis laying bare the economic damage from Brexit, as the affair was branded a “cover up”. | Labour vowed to win a Commons vote to force the release of the secret analysis laying bare the economic damage from Brexit, as the affair was branded a “cover up”. |
| Ministers faced anger from all sides of the Commons, as they insisted the document – which concludes all three likely Brexit options would leave Britain poorer - must remain secret to avoid harming the “national interest”. | Ministers faced anger from all sides of the Commons, as they insisted the document – which concludes all three likely Brexit options would leave Britain poorer - must remain secret to avoid harming the “national interest”. |
| Keir Starmer, Labour’s Brexit spokesman, vowed to stage a repeat of the vote, last year, which forced the Government to release the notorious sectoral analysis of withdrawal. | Keir Starmer, Labour’s Brexit spokesman, vowed to stage a repeat of the vote, last year, which forced the Government to release the notorious sectoral analysis of withdrawal. |
| “Publish it now – not in nine months, but now, so we can hold the Government properly to account,” Sir Keir demanded. | “Publish it now – not in nine months, but now, so we can hold the Government properly to account,” Sir Keir demanded. |
| And he warned: “The Secretary of State has a chance today to avoid a repeat of that exercises if he commits to publishing this new analysis in full. Will he do so?” | And he warned: “The Secretary of State has a chance today to avoid a repeat of that exercises if he commits to publishing this new analysis in full. Will he do so?” |
| Brexit minister Steve Baker said MPs would be given an analysis when the negotiations over and before this autumn’s “meaningful vote” - but claimed publishing the incomplete leaked study would “risk exposing our negotiating position”. | Brexit minister Steve Baker said MPs would be given an analysis when the negotiations over and before this autumn’s “meaningful vote” - but claimed publishing the incomplete leaked study would “risk exposing our negotiating position”. |
| Some Conservative MPs also demanded publication: Heidi Allen said: “This is a one-time deal only and I, for one, owe it to my constituents to prove to them that I have exercised full scrutiny.” | Some Conservative MPs also demanded publication: Heidi Allen said: “This is a one-time deal only and I, for one, owe it to my constituents to prove to them that I have exercised full scrutiny.” |
| Veteran Pro-EU Tory Ken Clarke accused ministers of secrecy because of the “embarrassment”, telling Mr Baker: “Stop pretending that it is something to do with defending our negotiating position.” | |
| And Antoinette Sandbach warned of damage to the car, food and chemical industries, telling Mr Baker: “I take exception to being told that it is not in the national interest to see a report that allows me to best represent my constituents.” | |
| Labour MP Chris Leslie warned it would only be published when ministers had had a chance to “edit it, twist it distort it, redact the information in it”, adding: “A cover up pure and simple – and it stinks.” | Labour MP Chris Leslie warned it would only be published when ministers had had a chance to “edit it, twist it distort it, redact the information in it”, adding: “A cover up pure and simple – and it stinks.” |
| But Mr Baker called the document a “selective interpretation of preliminary analysis” and condemned its leak as “an attempt to undermine our exit from the European Union”. | |
| The Commons would, before voting on the final Brexit deal, be given “appropriate analysis the Government has done” so MPs could “make an informed decision”. | |
| Later, he defended keeping the analysis secret, arguing the public did not want to “engage in the details of trade policy”, which they “expect the government” to do. | |
| The briefing was so secret that only certain Cabinet ministers will be allowed to see it - and only then through individual briefings and with paper copies, to ensure they do not leave the room. | |
| Instead, in apparent evidence of discontent within David Davis’ own Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), the document was handed to Buzzfeed News. | |
| A no-deal Brexit, leaving Britain trading with Europe on World Trade Organization terms, would reduce growth by 8 per cent compared with current projections, over 15 years, it found. | |
| Leaving with a Canada-style free trade agreement would see growth cut by 5 per cent, while staying inside the single market would reduce growth by 2 per cent. | |
| The document also warned the gains from free trade deals with other big countries would fail to make up for the losses - a boost of just 0.2 per cent over 15 years from a deal with the US, for example. | |