Jeremy Corbyn has 'misunderstood' no-deal analysis say Tories as they reject his call to reveal it
3 min read
The Government has rejected Jeremy Corbyn's call to publish its analysis of the impact of a no-deal Brexit "in full", claiming the Labour leader has "misunderstood" what it would show.
Conservative chairman James Cleverly denied the Labour leader's demand to make public "its most recent assessments" on what leaving the European Union without an agreement in place would mean for the UK.
The call came amid a bitter row over a leaked 'Operation Yellowhammer' dossier warning of disruption to fuel and food supplies, the social care system and the Irish border under such an outcome.
Mr Corbyn said the Cabinet Office documents - passed to The Sunday Times - had made "the chaos and damage that will be caused by Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit crystal clear", and claimed the Prime Minister could not "be trusted" to be straight with the public about the effect of such an outcome.
He said: "If the Government wants to be believed that it doesn’t represent the real impact, it must publish its most recent assessments today in full."
But,asked why those assessments could not be published, Mr Cleverly told the BBC: "Because it’s an internal document for the Government. It’s not a series of predictions.
"And the fact that we’re having this conversation shows that people misunderstand the nature of that document. I think as he does with many other things, Jeremy Corbyn has misunderstood what this is."
Mr Cleverly, a former Brexit minister, meanwhile claimed the 'Operation Yellowhammer' files were "based based on worst case scenarios", echoing Cabinet minister Michael Gove's description of them as spelling out "the very, very worst situation".
BENN DETAIL DEMAND
The rejection of Mr Corbyn's demand came as MP Hilary Benn, chair of the cross-party Commons Brexit Select committee, called on ministers to release more information following the no-deal leak.
In a letter to Mr Gove, who is leading preparations for such no-deal Brexit across Whitehall, the senior Labour MP said the Government had "not notified industry groups about many of the risks they face" that are spelled out in the report.
Mr Gove has claimed that, since the report was drawn up, ministers have "taken steps, not just to deal with some of the risks, but also to make sure that our economy and our country are better placed than ever to leave the EU on 31 October".
But Mr Benn demanded to know "the date on which the report was drawn up, the significant steps that the Government has taken in the last three weeks, and how these have mitigated each of the risk identified and to what extent".
The Brexit committee chairman said: "I have seen reports that you intend to update the House on no-deal prepartations when the House returns... but given the urgency of these matters, I would also like you to appear before the Exiting the EU Select Committee that week to discuss the Governemnt's preparations in more detail."
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