Government ‘report’ on Brexit sector impact said to be “extremely uneven work”

MPs on the Brexit Select Committee are now free to read those parts of the government’s “report” on Brexit sector impact if they go into a secure room.

One who has seen the report in its original form said the levels of security beggared belief given the content. There were some embarrassing moments in the assessments, the source said – mainly, from his reading, the input from sector bosses or trade associations giving their assessment of potential damage from leaving the Single Market and/or the Customs union.

But the bigger embarrassment, the source said, was that this was “extremely uneven work.” “A lot was done straight after the referendum (in June 2016) and into July (2016). It was added to but not massively rewritten,” the source said.

For those not admitted into the sealed room in Parliament to inspect Dexeu officials’ handiwork, Michel Barnier’s deputy negotiating Brexit for the EU 27 (@weyandsabine) helpfully offered an alternative and fairly gloomy analysis subtitled “the troubled waters of Brexit.”

And there are reports tonight that the Cabinet Committee meeting last week that conceded billions more for the EU has been signed off in Brussels as adequate.

The reports in the Telegraph and the Financial Times suggest that Ireland remains the biggest item waiting for agreement (EU citizens’ rights are thought to be close to agreement).

The pound spiked on the news.