Thank you for contacting me about the analyses which have been carried out on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
My ministerial colleagues at the Department for Exiting the EU and across Government are working to ensure that the referendum result is delivered and that the UK's exit from the EU is a success. As part of its work, the Government has analysed 58 sectors, as defined by the Office for National Statistics, and these have now been published.
It is important to understand, however, that the sectoral analysis is not a series of 58 discrete impact assessments on the quantitative impact of exiting the EU. It is instead a mixture of qualitative and quantitative analysis that is contained in a number of different documents. The analysis ranges from general analysis to detail on specific product lines. The Government has always been clear that the information did not exist in the form requested by Parliament.
Over 800 pages of analysis has been collated and given to Committees in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords. The Government has also worked with House officials to establish a reading room, where MPs and Peers can read the reports. The protocols behind accessing the room are in keeping with arrangements for previous reading rooms.
Parliament has voted to ensure that the Government should not publish anything that might undermine the country's negotiating position or that is not in the public interest. The Committees had not given any assurances that they would not publish the information in full and this means that material that is commercially, market or negotiation sensitive has not been included.
The Government has been as open as possible while respecting its duty to the national interest and the Committee for Exiting the EU has said that Government complied with the motion passed in Parliament. The Speaker of the House of Commons has also confirmed that there has been no contempt of Parliament.
I also want to emphasise that the UK will be leaving the EU in March 2019, which includes the single market and the customs union at this point. There will be no reversal of this position. More people voted in the referendum than in any election in the last 25 years and as the Prime Minister has explained, the electorate must trust its politicians to put in place the decision that they have taken.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.