U.K. Brexit-Impact Analysis Is No Longer Relevant, Javid Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor Sajid Javid was accused of keeping members of Parliament in the dark after conceding that there is no published government analysis of the sort of trade deal now being sought with the European Union.

In a letter to Catherine McKinnell, interim chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, Javid said the free-trade agreement modeled in November last year does not correspond to the one envisaged by Boris Johnson because it was based on an “average” FTA drawn from examples from around the world.

“The specifics of our own agreement will be the subject of the next phase of negotiations,” Javid wrote, according to the letter dated Oct. 21 and released by the Treasury Committee. “We will keep Parliament updated throughout those discussions and provide analysis at appropriate points.”

The communication received a critical response from McKinnell, who has been urging Javid to follow the Bank of England and provide updated Brexit-impact analysts as Parliament prepares to vote on Johnson’s newly agreed deal with the EU.

“The government appears content that MPs be expected to vote blindly on its new deal,” she said in a statement. “The dearth of relevant economic analysis on which MPs can decide how to vote is deeply concerning.”

“It’s unclear whether the analysis will be published before any further meaningful votes or the publication of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill,” she added.

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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