MPs accuse May of keeping Parliament 'in the dark' over Brexit

Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs, in a letter to Brexit Secretary David Davis, demanded the publication of a raft of secret studies conducted on Brexit earlier this year.
 
According to Brexit minister David Jones, assessments had been carried out on how the departure from the EU would affect more than 50 different sectors. The results of those assessments, however, have not been published yet.
 
In their letter, the MPs asked Davis to publish them and allow “full and frank debate about the impact of Brexit” on the economy, jobs, trade and living standards in the UK.
 
“We have to wonder what exactly the Government are hiding in refusing to publish these reports,” said Labour MP David Lammy, who helped coordinate the letter.
 
“Parliament and the public have a right to know what analysis the Government has done on the impact of Brexit, particularly if this analysis reveals that a hard Brexit will be a disaster for our economy, jobs, trade and living standards,” Lammy said.
 
Labour MP Seema Malhotra of the Commons Brexit committee said the government’s failure to publish the studies indicates that it was keen to “bypass Parliament” and avoid proper scrutiny.
 
She went on to say that it is vital that “both the list of sectors and the results of the studies” are published so that “our jobs and economy” are protected.
 
In a Parliament session this week, May said that she would publish a full list of sectors "shortly," but noted that nothing could be done to undercut the Brexit negotiations.
 
May invoked the formal notice for EU departure on March 29 to begin the two-year process. She has promised to take the UK out of the EU even if it requires a Hard Brexit.
 
The talks, however, have stalled on all three of the key Brexit issues – an exit bill, the rights of the EU citizens and the fate of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.