https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... avid-davis
The UK government has produced no economic forecasts on the likely impact of Brexit on various sectors of the economy, David Davis has told a committee of MPs who have attempted to examine the studies.
The revelation prompted calls from some MPs for the Brexit secretary to be held in contempt of parliament if it were found he had held back any details of such assessments, which a vote in the Commons last month demanded he released.
Answering questions from the Brexit select committee, Davis also said no economic impact study had been undertaken before the cabinet decision to leave the customs union and no assessment had been made of the possible economic effect of a no-deal Brexit.
On a day of several Brexit revelations, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, also revealed that the cabinet had not yet discussed what final Brexit outcome was being pursued, and that only“general discussions” had been held about the UK’s goals.
Benn asked Davis how the assessments could not exist when the Brexit secretary told MPs in September last year there were sectoral analyses for “about 50 cross-cutting sectors, [for] what is going to happen to them”.
“Now that sounds very clear to me that the government has been looking at the impact on individual sectors. And yet you’ve told us a moment ago you haven’t done that yet. Which is it? Either it has happened or it hasn’t,” Benn said.
Davis replied: “Do not draw the conclusion that because you use the word impact, you have written an impact assessment.”
Davis said there was a misunderstanding over what the government had done. These were, he said, sectoral analyses, started in 2016, which were “essentially looking at what the industries consist of, looking at the size of them in terms of revenue and capital and employment, and so on”.
“That’s all very useful and it’s the underpinning of a lot of policy, but it’s not a forecast of the outcome of leaving the European Union, or indeed various options thereof,” he said.
Impact assessments would begin “a little closer to the negotiating timetable”, Davis told the committee. “We will at some stage, and some of this has been initiated, do the best we can to quantify the effect of different negotiating outcomes as we come up to them.”
Context as provided here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comm ... e/dqugmb7/
25 June, Davis: We have got 50, nearly 60 sectoral analyses done
06 Dec, Davis: No impact assessments have been done on the impact of Brexit
Dec 2016, Davis: We are in the midst of carrying out about 57 sets of analyses, each of which has implications for individual parts of 85% of the economy.
Dec 2017, Davis: The usefulness of such detailed impact assessments is near zero.
So what do the U.K. citizens here think? Is the lack of evidence of the Impact Assessments a big deal to you? Do you think the Government will get a Brexit Deal done? And on a personal note, are you guys nervous about the Brexit?
