(Bloomberg) -- Brexit Secretary David Davis has been summoned by U.K. lawmakers who are fighting to make him publish a series of secret papers on the economic impact of Brexit.
Davis tried to calm the row by giving all lawmakers access to the 800-page document, which assesses how Britain’s exit from the EU will affect 58 sectors of the economy. But the document has been heavily redacted, as the government argues some of the information is commercially sensitive and may disadvantage the U.K. in its negotiations.
Lawmakers -- both Labour and Conservative -- weren’t impressed. Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer accused the government of being in contempt of Parliament. Davis is reluctant to release unredacted documents in part because of the fear of leaks. That suspicion has further enraged members of parliament.
"I do object to any suggestion that the select committee or I as chair cannot be trusted to do our job," Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Committee for Exiting the European Union, told Parliament.
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