David Davis has said the Government intends to be “as open as we can be” over its Brexit impact studies after MPs backed their release.
The Brexit Secretary told the Commons he has held talks with Hilary Benn, chairman of the Exiting the EU Select Committee, with further discussions planned about the confidentiality surrounding the documents that will be handed over.
Labour used an arcane parliamentary procedure to successfully pass a motion which seeks to have the 58 studies showing the potential impact of Brexit on different industrial sectors provided to the select committee.
Brexit minister Robin Walker also said the Government took the vote in Parliament very seriously but prompted groans from Opposition MPs by his lack of detail on when the documents will be released.
Speaking in the Commons, Labour’s Jeff Smith (Manchester Withington) questioned if Mr Davis agreed that the papers must be given in full to the committee.
Mr Davis replied: “I’ve already spoken to (Mr Benn) … and I’m organising to talk to him about how we handle the confidentiality of the documentation we’ll hand over.
“I will reiterate the point made by my honourable friend that is these documents are not some sort of grand plan, they’re data about the regulations and the markets of individual sectors which inform our negotiation.
“Of course we will be as open as we can be with the select committee, I fully intend to.”