THE GOVERNMENT could be forced to release their 58 secret Brexit impact papers after a humiliating and confusing day in the Commons saw them defeated in their bid to keep the reports private.
There was confusion though, as rather than defend their position, the Tories simply didn’t turn up.
The Tory decision to abstain and not vote was in part because they would almost certainly lose.
This seemed to be conceded when half way through the Commons’ debate, a reporter for the Sun newspaper said the Government had told him they would release the reports — but heavily redacted.
The SNP described it as an “utter shambles”.
Labour had attempted to use an arcane Parliamentary procedure in a bid to force the government to release the secret analysis which was confirmed by the government’s Brexit department over the weekend.
Normally votes on Opposition Day Debates are non-binding, but by backing a motion that a “humble Address be presented to Her Majesty,” the Commons would make it a resolution of Parliament, and by convention, compel the Government to respond.
With it being the first time the procedure had been used in living memory, there was debate over how obligated the government would be.
Speaker John Bercow spent most of the day holed up with Parliament’s clerks, looking looking through centuries-old convention and procedure to see exactly what this would mean.
He later told MPs “Motions of this kind have in the past been seen as effective or binding.”
Ministers could be in “contempt” of Parliament if they ignore the call, he added.
Speaking during the debate, Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said the debate was “about transparency and accountability.”
“Ministers cannot keep withholding vital information from Parliament about the impact of Brexit on jobs and the economy.”
He added: “Only a weak government pushes Parliament away and ignores the facts. It should not require an arcane parliamentary procedure to force the government to release these documents, but after 10 months of trying that is what parliament now has to do. The current impasse prevents parliament doing its job, undermines accountability and is inconsistent with transparency.”
Junior Brexit minister Robin Walker said it was important to note that this analysis is “closely tied to our negotiating position.”
He added: “There is therefore a significant chance that it would be detrimental to our interests in negotiation to publish all the analysis in full.”
DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr accused Labour of pulling a “wheeze”.
Perhaps the strongest intervention in the debate came from Tory MP Anna Soubry who went after her Brexiteer colleagues.
“You’ve won, you’re in charge of this, now you have to face up to the responsibility of delivering a Brexit that works for everybody in this country and for generations to come,” she said.
She said the longer the government refused to release the assessments, the more the implication would be that “there’s something in them that’s not to be disclosed because it might prick this golden bubble, this balloon, of the promised land of Brexit.”
The SNP’s Brexit spokesman Peter Grant quoted Burns during the debate: “Here’s freedom to them that wad read, Here’s freedom to them that wad write, There’s nane ever fear’d that the truth should be heard, But they whom the truth would indite.”
Speaking afterwards he said: “The documents outlining the impact of a Tory Brexit must be published as fully as possible. The UK Government cannot pick and choose what it wants to reveal about just how bad this is going to be for Scotland – and for other nations, regions and businesses across the UK.
“The UK Government has spent the entirety of this debate attempting to conceal from MPs, the public, businesses and the devolved administrations, the impact of its plans to leave the EU.”
He added: “Today’s debate at Westminster was an utter shambles – and clearly the Tories are in a total panic about these secret papers.”
Starmer said he expected ministers to release the studies: “Labour has been absolutely clear since the referendum that ministers could not withhold vital information from parliament about the impact of Brexit on jobs and the economy.”
“It’s completely unacceptable for the Tories to have wasted months avoiding responsible scrutiny and trying to keep the public in the dark. The reality is that it should not have taken an ancient parliamentary procedure to get ministers to listen to common sense. As the Speaker has made clear, the government cannot ignore [the] binding decision. David Davis must now respond to parliament’s ruling and urgently set a date for when he will share these papers.”
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