Ministers are “pulling wool over eyes of the people” by redacting Brexit impact assessment

The government has been accused of “pulling the wool over the eyes” of the British public by failing to publish a complete version of its Brexit impact assessment.

Brexit minister David Davis has written to the Brexit Committee to say 850 pages of detailed analysis on the impact of Brexit on the UK’s economy will have commercially sensitive elements removed.

Liberal Democrat Brexit Committee member Wera Hobhouse said: “The government is still trying to pull the wool over the eyes of parliament and the British people.

“Ministers were ordered by MPs three weeks ago to publish these reports, but are still trying to hide the full impact of Brexit from the public.”

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Labour said yesterday a failure to publish the report in full risked leaving the government in contempt of court.

The Tories insist the document must be redacted so that commercially sensitive information does not put the hurt Britain’s negotiating position as part of the Brexit talks.

But Hobhouse said:

There is a fine line between what is commercially sensitive and what is simply politically embarrassing for the government.

It should be up to MPs on the Brexit Committee, not David Davis, to make that call.

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