14 August 2017
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP and Brexit spokesperson for the Green Party, has slammed the government for refusing to publish 50 or more studies they have undertaken into the impacts of Brexit.
Dr Scott Cato wrote to Brexit secretary David Davis MP [1] after hearing of alleged ‘secret studies’ by the government into the potential impact of a hard Brexit. One study, undertaken by the Department of Health suggests that a hard Brexit could result is a shortage of more than 40,000 nurses by 2026 [2]. A response, from Minister of State David Jones MP, stated that the government had “conducted analysis of over 50 sectors” but did not offer to share any findings.
After receiving the ‘unacceptably evasive response’ [3] from the minister, Molly Scott Cato said:
“The only reason they wouldn’t publish these studies is because they reveal what they don’t want people to hear: that a hard Brexit will be a disaster for our economy, for our environmental standards and for our workers’ rights.
“I wrote to David Davis to highlight some of the deep concerns around the uncertainties facing the South West of England. I wanted to know what studies the government has commissioned on the impact of a hard Brexit on the livelihoods of the people living in this region, especially in regard to agriculture. What I got in response were platitudes and further evasion. This is completely unacceptable.
“We know this government has undertaken studies, including the leaked Department of Health research that shows how our nursing provision will be devastated by a hard Brexit. We don’t know what other studies the government have done because they won’t tell us, but we do know they have carried out analysis of over 50 sectors.
“It is time for the government to come clean and tell us what the results of these studies were. If they don’t, it will just fuel the growing uncertainties and concerns people have over this government’s hard Brexit folly.”
Notes:
1. http://mollymep.org.uk/2017/04/12/disclose-impact-studies-of-hard-brexit/
3. http://mollymep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Exiting-the-EU-letter-from-David-Jones.pdf
Follow this news feed: Green Party