Letter to the Brexit Secretary: share the Brexit analysis with the public

Below is the letter sent by Michael Russell, Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe, to the UK Brexit Secretary, on the Brexit sectoral analysis.

We received yesterday the copies of the sectoral reports which you committed to sharing with the UK Parliament earlier this month and are in the process of assessing this material. Whilst we welcome the sharing of information we have concerns about both the manner in which these reports have come to us, and their content.

The First Minister and I have both been clear that the UK Government’s analysis of the impact of Brexit on sectors or the economy as a whole should be made public. It is essential that people across the UK fully understand the consequences of decisions being taken about their future. It is disappointing that the UK Government has persisted in keeping this information from being publicly available and have shared with us only on the basis that we do not release it into the public domain. I urge you to reconsider this approach, be up front with people and publish these reports immediately.

Aside from the matter of publication, it is clear is that these reports do not contain any actual impact analysis. They seem to be a collation of sectoral information, and as useful as that is it fails to address the key need; to understand what assessment the UK Government has made of the likely impact of its approach of leaving the Single Market and Customs Union and what mitigating measures if any are being put in place to manage negative impacts.

I am therefore requesting that you share the full breadth of the analysis that the UK Government has undertaken with the devolved administrations as a matter of urgency.

I am copying this letter to Damian Green, First Secretary of State; Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government; and, David Sterling as the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Yours Sincerely

MICHAEL RUSSEL