Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, who made the determination that it was not in the public interest to retain in the sectoral analyses the information that has been redacted from them; and if he will make a statement.

In order to meet the motion of 1st November, we have taken time to bring together the sectoral analyses in a way that is accessible and informative to the Committee.

We have provided a vast amount of factual information to help the Committees in their scrutiny whilst respecting our overriding duty to the national interest.

Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position. As such, the sectoral reports do not contain material that we judge would undermine the UK’s hand in the negotiations, or material that is commercially or market sensitive.