The British government did not fully comply with the parliament’s requirement to disclose materials regarding preparations for the country’s exit from the European Union without a deal – the cabinet refused to provide correspondence between the prime minister’s advisers, confining himself to only one official reference. Refusal to provide correspondence was announced by the head of the government apparatus, Michael Gove.
On Wednesday evening, the Cabinet of Ministers published a closed statement, which lists the consequences of Brexit without a deal. The document says that Britain will face the negative consequences of this on the first day. For a long time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ignored calls to make this information public and stated that Brexit would not harm the country without a deal, but his words were contrary to the views of industry and professional associations and trade unions. The prime minister also denied the existence of such a document and accused the opposition of intimidating the population.
“This is an unprecedented, inappropriate and disproportionate use of the procedure (requesting information by the parliament) … These persons (advisers to the prime minister whose correspondence was requested) are not entitled to an answer, and the procedure used does not allow them to use any protection that would be acceptable in such situation,” – says the official letter to Gove, a copy of which is available.