The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) has revealed that the Brexit withdrawal impact assessment has not been updated since October and that, despite this fact, the government still seems hell bent on rushing the bill through in 3 days, in order to meet the January 31st, self-imposed, deadline. This is even more surprising news, given that the bill has undergone a number of changes during that time, including the removal of commitments to workers’ rights and the imposition of a limited transition period (ending 31st Dec 2020).
Back in October, Chancellor, Sajid Javid, appeared rather nonchalant about the issue, despite the fact there was already a significant amount of information missing from the impact assessment even then. It did not include impact costs, or mention the £39bn divorce bill, or the £8bn in no-deal planning. It also didn’t stipulate when we might see an end to £billions in payments to Brussels but Javid refused to provide a full impact assessment at the time and it seems now that the government are continuing to throw caution to the wind, all for the sake of pursuing Johnson’s, hard right, do or die, manifesto pledge.
SOURCE:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-official-watchdog-raps-boris-21232739
