Sadiq Khan to commission his OWN papers to study impact of Brexit

The Mayor is to commission his own studies examining the impact of Brexit
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Pippa Crerar8 December 2017
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Sadiq Khan today announced he is commissioning his own Brexit impact papers for London after David Davis admitted that the Government’s did not exist.

The Mayor said that nine key sectors, including financial services and the creative industries, would be assessed by independent experts.

The reports, to be published next month, will look closely at indicators such as economic output, employment and the knock-on effect for the rest of the UK.

It came amid growing confusion over the status of the Brexit Secretary’s own papers after he said that none had in fact been written.

As news broke of a Brexit deal being struck in Brussels, Mr Khan suggested the prospect of a second referendum on the final deal was still “on the table”.

He said: “I’m not sure what else you could do if Parliament rejects the deal the Government has done. No deal would be catastrophic for our country.”

The Mayor criticised the months of “uncertainty and stress” caused to Londoners by the negotiations so far. “This was the easy part,” he added.

Mr Davis told MPs this week the Government had not carried out any assessments of leaving the EU on the UK economy, despite having repeatedly referred to them.

He said their usefulness would be “near zero” because of the scale of change Brexit is likely to cause.

Mr Khan criticised his “chaotic” approach and said his own reports, by independent experts Cambridge Econometrics, would help deliver a deal that protected London’s jobs and growth.

They will model five different departure scenarios, ranging from the status quo, through to a hard Brexit with no transition period.

Other sectors to be covered include construction, digital, life sciences, hospitality, culture, food and manufacturing, and science and technology.

He said: “It is outrageous that the Government either failed to properly consider the impact of Brexit on Britain’s economy, or are refusing to release their analysis.

“If it’s the former then I question their competence. If it is the latter then I question whether they have something to hide.

“We need to know the impact of different Brexit scenarios on our economy in order to deliver a Brexit deal that protects jobs and growth.”

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