, Labour’s Shadow Brexit
Secretary, has urged ministers to meet the deadline for
handing over the 58 Brexit impact studies to MPs tomorrow[Tuesday
28 November] or risk being held in contempt of Parliament.
Earlier this month, MPs unanimously backed a Labour motion for
the economic impact studies to be released to the Select
Committee for Exiting the European Union. MPs on that Select
Committee will then have the right to review the impact studies
and determine what information is put in the public domain.
The Speaker of the House of Commons said motions of the kind
tabled by Labour “have in the past been seen as effective or
binding.”
Responding to the decision, the Brexit Secretary, , said on Tuesday 7
November: "The Government is committed to providing the
information to the Committee as soon as possible. I have made
plain to the House authorities that we currently expect this to
be no more than three weeks [Tuesday 28 November]."
If ministers fail to respond to Labour’s motion, then
they risk falling in contempt of Parliament.
Parliament’s rulebook Erskine May states that “actions
which…obstruct or impede” the Commons “in the performance of its
functions, or are offences against its authority or dignity, such
as disobedience to its legitimate commands.”
Labour is calling for the papers to be handed over, unredacted
before Parliament rises tomorrow.
said:
“There is huge anxiety across the country about the impact of the
Government’s Brexit approach on jobs and the economy.
“Labour fully understand the importance of protecting the UK’s
negotiating position with the European Union. However, the
decision agreed unanimously by MPs earlier this month was about
transparency and ensuring Parliament had the information it needs
to hold ministers to account during the Brexit process.
“Ministers have accepted that the vote was binding and they must
now respect Parliament’s decision. That means releasing the
impact studies to the Brexit Select Committee in full and
unredacted before Parliament rises on Tuesday. If ministers fail
to act then we will have no choice but to raise this matter with
the Speaker of the Commons."
Ends
Notes to editor:
- Labour’s Opposition Day Debate took place on Wednesday 1
November.
- Labour’s motion, which was passed by the House of Commons on
Wednesday 1 November, says:
Exiting the EU: sectoral impact assessments
That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, That she will
be graciously pleased to give directions that the list of sectors
analysed under the instruction of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and
referred to in the Answer of 26 June 2017 to Question 239, be
laid before this House and that the impact assessments arising
from those analyses be provided to the Committee on Exiting the
European Union.
- On Tuesday 7 November, said in a written ministerial
statement: “The Government is committed to providing the
information to the Committee as soon as is possible. I have
made plain to the House authorities that we currently expect
this to be no more than three weeks.”
Source: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-11-07/HCWS231/
