The government will not publish an economic impact assessment of its proposed Brexit trade deal, Michael Gove has announced this morning.

Speaking to the Future Relationship with the European Union Committee, Gove was asked by chair Hilary Benn whether the government would be publishing such a report.

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“The government produced a 60-page impact assessment for the proposed free trade agreement with the United States of America. Are you planning to do the same for your proposed free trade agreement with the EU?,” Benn asked.

However, absurdly, Gove rejected this idea.

“No. Because we’re going to take a different approach. We’re going to invite from across a range of organisations their views on what the impact of a free trade agreement with the EU and consequent changes might be.”

To clarify, the government’s assessment for a US free trade deal showed that we can expect it to boost the economy by roughly 0.2% “over the long run”.

In comparison, previous ONS estimates have suggested that leaving the EU and signing up to a free trade agreement would reduce economic growth by nearly 7%.

Gove knows that any economic impact assessment will show that we would have been better off remaining in the EU. The rest is just spin.

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