Sajid Javid Urged to Provide Brexit-Impact Analysis Before Crunch Vote

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor Sajid Javid came under fresh pressure to publish updated Brexit impact analysis before Parliament votes tomorrow on the new divorce deal agreed between Britain and the European Union.

The government and the Bank of England produced initial assessments in November 2018, and the BOE published revised analysis last month in response to a request from Parliament’s Treasury Committee. However, Javid on Thursday rejected calls for an assessment of the deal Prime Minister Boris Johnson is proposing.

Catherine McKinnell, interim chair of committee, said on Friday she had written to Javid asking whether he stood by the original government evaluation, which concluded Britain would be worse off under any Brexit scenario relative to remaining in the EU.

The Treasury’s failure to provide new information is “unacceptable” and “appears to be an attempt to avoid scrutiny,” McKinnell said in a statement. “When MPs vote on the government’s new deal on Saturday, we should do so with as much information as possible.”

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Javid said there was no need for a new assessment because “it’s self evident that bringing certainty on the whole delivery of Brexit is a good thing,” though he stressed that did not mean he necessarily agreed with the existing analysis.

Earlier, a cross-party group of 29 lawmakers, including former Justice Secretary David Gauke, demanded a new report, saying it would be “incomprehensibly irresponsible” not to do so.

Estimates by Bloomberg Economics show Johnson’s Brexit deal would be better for the economy than no deal at all, but worse than the agreement reached by his predecessor Theresa May.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Atkinson in London at a.atkinson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint

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