Leadsom: Yellowhammer doc would ‘just serve to concern people’ on Brexit
Business secretary Andrea Leadsom has said the government will not publish its Brexit assessment documents Yellowhammer, arguing it would “just serve to concern people”.
Leadsom, who has been doing the broadcast rounds this morning on the back of Number 10’s announcement about relaxing post-studying visas, told BBC Breakfast the “reasonable worst-case scenario” was “not a prediction”.
Read more: Northern Ireland backstop in play – but Brexiters threaten rebellion
She explained: “I actually do not think that it serves people well to see what is the absolutely worst thing that could happen. The worst thing that could happen to me is I could walk out of here and get run over. It is not a prediction, but it is something that could happen. And simply putting out there all of the possible permutations of what could happen actually just serves to concern people.
“Whereas what the government is doing is working flat out to ensure that in all circumstances, including in the event of no deal, we have a smooth transition for the United Kingdom. There is so much work underway to make sure that in all circumstances the UK will absolutely thrive once we leave the European Union.”
Number 10 is expected to publish some of the Yellowhammer documents as early as this week, after MPs voted for a motion put forward by Dominic Grieve on Monday.
The motion also demanded the private communications – including WhatsApp messages and emails – of nine government special advisers relating to the prorogation of parliament.
A government spokesman said yesterday that a “revised” Yellowhammer would be published shortly.
However it is understood that the private messages will be treated differently, and may be contested through the Data Protection Act, for example.
Main image: Getty