Government U-turns on Brexit white paper

In a U-turn that appeared to catch the Labour front bench off-guard, the Prime Minister has agreed to publish her negotiating strategy in document form in a bid to ease concerns about Parliamentary scrutiny.The surprise announcement came less than a day after Brexit Secretary David Davis spent almost two hours fending off cross-party calls for a paper, telling MPs that Mrs May’s speech to EU diplomats last week was “the plan”.But while Downing Street has confirmed the published strategy will “be based on” Mrs May’s speech, they would not say whether it will be released before MPs are asked to vote on triggering Article 50.Addressing the Commons during the weekly session of PMQs, the Prime Minister acknowledged a growing “appetite” among MPs for further debate of her Brexit strategy. And responding to a question from the Tory MP Chris Philip, she confirmed it would be published “for the House” in the form of a white paper.“I have made clear, as have senior ministers, that we will ensure that Parliament has every opportunity to carry out such scrutiny as we go through this process,” Mrs May told MPs.“I set out that bold plan for a global Britain last week. I recognise that there is an appetite in the House to see it set out in a white paper... and I can confirm that our plan will be set out in a white paper published for the House.”The decision comes in response to mounting pressure from all sides of the House to publish a plan, with the issue coming to a head on Tuesday in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.During the two hour debate, a number of high profile Tory backbenchers pressed Mr Davis to commit to a paper, including former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve.In his responses, the Brexit Secretary appeared to dismiss their calls, telling them that the Prime Minister had spelled out her strategy “clearly” in her Lancaster House speech.Downing Street also refused to commit to a paper, with a spokesman telling reporters that where the Government is able to “provide more certainty... we will”.Yesterday’s announcement by the Prime Minister succeeded as much in undermining her Labour opponents as it did in silencing her Tory critics.The party’s leadership had threatened to engage in “hand to hand combat” over the Government’s Brexit strategy, as it unveiled plans to make four amendments to the soon-to-be-tabled Article 50 Bill.This included a demand for a white paper, as well as “a meaningful vote” in Parliament on the final deal reached with the EU. The party will also seek guarantees on tariff-free access to the Single Market and maintenance of workers’ rights and social and environmental protections.Responding to the development, Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer welcomed the “significant U-turn” from Government. But he stressed that the document must be published in time to “inform the Article 50 process”.His views were echoed by Hull MP Diana Johnson, who told this paper she was “pleased to hear” the Government had changed its position. But she said it “begs the question as to why ministers spent so long resisting it”.Downing Street is yet to confirm a date for publishing the paper, telling reporters it will be released “in due course”. However, they advised that the document is being seen as “separate” to legislation that is being brought forward to trigger Article 50.