16:45

Brexit secretary David Davis has said it may not be in the “public interest” to publish the government’s analysis of the impact of Brexit on 58 sectors including pharmaceuticals, road haulage and retail.

He was responding to an urgent request last week from the chairman of the Brexit select committee, Hilary Benn, to publish the assessments sooner than the three months allowable under government technical rules.

In his letter, Davis makes a clear distinction between matters which “may be confidential or commercially sensitive” and those that are in “the public interest”. He says:

There are a number of reasons why we believe that it would not be in the public interest for elements of the analysis, at least, to find their way into the public domain.

lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) David Davis tells Hilary Benn that it may not be "in the public interest" to release all the work govt has done on impact of Brexit. pic.twitter.com/Tnceo1aYAj

He adds that “it is important to recognise” that some of the analysis may be commercially sensitive and “that in many cases this analysis has been developed to underpin advice” to ministers in the Brexit negotiations.

He does not offer a definition of public interest, an omission which may prompt questions as to who defines the public interest.

His letter is the latest salvo in the row over the papers, with the government arguing releasing them would undermine its negotiating position and the opposition accusing them of a cover up.

The sectors include: aerospace, agriculture, architecture, aviation, broadcasting, bus and coach transport, business services, catering, chemicals, construction, defence, electricity market, film,gas market, insurance, medical devices, museums, oil, payment services and systems, pharma, real estate, road haulage, telecoms and wholesale markets and investment banking.

Davis says the work does not constitute 58 “discrete” assessments and the work “is constantly evolving”.

It is a wide mix of qualitative and quantative analysis, contained in a range of documents .. since the referendum.

Davis has offered a private meeting with Benn on 13 November to discuss the matter.