Last week the Government suffered a significant defeat in the House of Commons – using a rare parliamentary procedure known as “an humble Address” to pass a binding vote that the Government provide to the Brexit economic sectoral impact assessments the Committee on Exiting the European Union. The debate has been about transparency, accountability and ensuring that Parliament can do its job of scrutinising the Government effectively. The studies were first highlighted almost a year ago, and since then repeated parliamentary questions, freedom of information requests, petitions, a letter written by us and supported by almost 200 MPs and Westminster debates have failed to result in the analysis being put in the public domain. On Monday last week following my questions at the Select Committee hearings with the Secretary of State, the list of sectors was published – 4 months after it was promised.
This issue matters because with Brexit day now 17 months away, there is no time to lose in our nation preparing for the change that is coming. Indeed, the UK is on the brink of the biggest change for a generation. It’s incredibly disappointing that the Government has been intent on keeping Parliament and 29 million British workers in the dark about what it knows about the impact of Brexit on our economy, jobs and livelihoods. What’s clear is that this approach can no longer continue, and it is vital to see a change of course.
The result was a victory for parliamentary sovereignty and accountability. And it matters for our businesses and constituencies. There will be downsides from Brexit and it’s critical to prepare for them. The Bank of England has recently estimated that up to 75,000 jobs could be lost in the financial services industry alone as a result of Brexit. A leaked Department of Health report from earlier this year suggested that there could be a shortfall of 40,000 nurses in the event of a hard Brexit. In the year since the referendum, we have fallen from the top to the bottom of the G7 growth league table - the UK is now the slowest growing of all the major world economies
To have a proper debate about the impact of Brexit on our economy, jobs and living standards, we need to know the effects it will have on every sector. This is not about leave or remain, but about putting country before party. It is not about taking sides, but about a nation planning together. It is about leadership, transparency, clarity and responsibility.
Making Brexit happen – reversing 40 years of our economy growing along side that of our closest and most important markets (44% of our exports go to the EU) was never going to be easy, and the public should never have been given that impression. Its not now that surprising that in a year, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU David Davis has gone from saying “We have more to gain than we have to lose, while the opposite is true for the EU” to telling the Lords EU Committee last Tuesday that Britain’s Brexit withdrawal agreement will “probably favour” the EU. The confusion at the heart of government and the disagreements between Ministers have been the real reason by the Government has sought time after time to bypass Parliament and the public in decision making. But with so much at stake, that confusion must not now be allowed to get in the way of a nation planning together for the huge challenges to our economy that clearly lie ahead. The Brexit impact assessment papers should now be released as quickly as possible.
