Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124540, on Brexit, what assessment he has made of whether his Department's policy of not sharing reports with individuals and organisations outside government has been broken.
Answered by Robin Walker
Last week, preliminary economic analysis conducted by the Government was reported on by a news organisation. We are carrying out the usual inquiries into who leaked the report.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, for what reasons the document EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing was seen by journalists before hon. Members were given access to it.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government does not comment on leaks or ongoing leak enquiries. The document to which the question refers represents preliminary analysis and has only very recently been presented to ministers. It does not reflect this Government’s policy, and is not representative of the expected outcome of the negotiations. Ministers have a duty not to publish anything that could risk exposing our negotiation position.
The Government has agreed to make this analysis available to the EU Exit Select Committee and to all members of both Houses through a confidential reading room, once arrangements can be made.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans his Department has to publish the document EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government does not comment on leaks or ongoing leak enquiries. The document to which the question refers represents preliminary analysis and has only very recently been presented to ministers. It does not reflect this Government’s policy, and is not representative of the expected outcome of the negotiations. Ministers have a duty not to publish anything that could risk exposing our negotiation position.
The Government has agreed to make this analysis available to the EU Exit Select Committee and to all members of both Houses through a confidential reading room, once arrangements can be made.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will publish the names of the individuals outside of Government who had access to the document EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government does not comment on leaks or ongoing leak enquiries. The document to which the question refers represents preliminary analysis and has only very recently been presented to ministers. It does not reflect this Government’s policy, and is not representative of the expected outcome of the negotiations. Ministers have a duty not to publish anything that could risk exposing our negotiation position.
The Government has agreed to make this analysis available to the EU Exit Select Committee and to all members of both Houses through a confidential reading room, once arrangements can be made.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 124027, what the reasons are for his Department's policy that listing the titles of such assessments would undermine the UK’s negotiating position.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Department for Exiting the European Union is undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work across a range of scenarios. Listing the titles of all market access assessments would likely impact the UK’s negotiating position by implying broader priorities of Government work. As we have stated, it is also not standard practice to provide a running commentary on ongoing analysis.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124540, whether any journalist has had access, in error or inadvertently, to Market Access reports pertaining to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
I refer the hon. Member to my answer to written parliamentary question 124540.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2018 to Question 122410 on Brexit, whether any journalist has been given access to non-public Market Access reports pertaining to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU that did not undermine the UK's negotiating position.
Answered by Robin Walker
We have been as open as possible in sharing information subject to the overwhelming national interest of preserving our negotiating position, including publishing 14 detailed papers on the negotiations to date.
Any non-public reports are by definition not shared with individuals and organisations outside government.