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London - The UK Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to release Brexit impact studies into 58 sectors of the British economy, in a victory over Prime Minister Theresa May by the opposition Labour Party, which has sought the studies for months.
The unanimous vote in the House of Commons came Wednesday evening after the ruling Conservatives decided not to oppose the motion brought by Labour’s Brexit spokesperson, Keir Starmer.
Brexit Minister Robin Walker told lawmakers that unlike Labour, he didn’t consider the motion to be binding, while his fellow Brexit minister, Steve Baker, said the government would "reflect" on the matter.
"The government recognises that Parliament has rights relating to the publication of documents," Baker said, adding that ministers also have a duty to keep information confidential in the national interest.
"We would need to reflect on these conflicting responsibilities. We have not indicated any intention to publish redacted docs."
The debate illustrates the weakness of May’s Conservatives in Parliament, unable as they were to muster the votes needed to successfully defeat the Labour motion. It’s the latest in a succession of motions called for debate by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour on which the Tories have declined to vote.
May’s minority
Last month, 120 members of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party wrote to Brexit Secretary David Davis calling for release of the studies, accusing the government of keeping "not only Parliament but the public in the dark."
While no Conservatives signed the letter, in Wednesday’s debate Tory lawmakers including Former Business Minister Anna Soubry, indicated support for releasing the information.
Just a few Tory rebels are needed to inflict defeat on May in any given vote, because she leads a minority administration that can only pass legislation with the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.
While opposition motions are typically nonbinding, for Wednesday’s vote, Labour sought to use an obscure legislative device that it said made the motion binding, in order to force the hands of the Conservatives. Now May and Davis must decide whether to release the studies - or redacted versions of them - to lawmakers.
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow signalled he thought the motion was binding.
"Motions of this kind have traditionally been regarded as binding or effective," Bercow said, adding that he expected the request to be passed to the Queen, an indication he expects the motion to be heeded.
58 sectors
The government on Monday listed the 58 sectors covered by its analysis, saying they cover 88% of the UK economy. Walker on Wednesday said there aren’t 58 separate studies, but rather a "cross-sectoral" assessment.
"It ranges from very high-level overarching analysis to much more granular level analysis of certain product lines in specific sectors," he said.
"It examines how trade is conducted with the EU currently in those sectors and in many cases considers alternatives after we leave."
Starmer suggested the studies should be released to Parliament’s Committee on Exiting the European Union, a cross-party panel that scrutinizes the government’s Brexit policy.
He asked whether it would be possible to release a summary or redacted text, pointing out that it’s "extremely unusual” for the government to decline to release any information, even in "sensitive" fields like counter-terrorism.
"Can the gist not be given?" Starmer said. "Or are we seriously asked to believe that not one paragraph, not one sentence, not one word can be disclosed to anyone in this house?"
Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, a member of May’s cabinet, told lawmakers last month that where an opposition motion is passed, "the government would respond with a statement to the Commons “no more than 12 weeks after the debate."
That suggests the government could drag its feet for another three months before releasing the Brexit studies.
"The government says it’s planning for all eventualities but if relevant information and evidence is not published in responsible fashion, then businesses and people up and down the country will not be able to do so," Starmer said.
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