Leaders ‘outraged’ at refusal to release Brexit impact report
THE government has refused to release its latest assessment of the impact Brexit will have on Greater Manchester, in a situation dubbed ‘outrageous’ by council bosses.
Speaking at a meeting of the combined authority, Andy Burnham warned the region was ‘months away from a cliff edge’ with no real idea what it would mean.
In March the government was forced to discuss its previous regional analysis of various Brexit scenarios after it was leaked to Buzzfeed News.
That showed economic growth in the north west could slump by up to 12 per cent, which – if extrapolated – would cost Greater Manchester’s economy around £7bn a year in the event of a hard Brexit.
But Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese told the meeting: “As I understand it, those figures have been updated by government but they are refusing to release that information again, which is outrageous really.”
Mr Burnham said: “We have had a series of ad hoc meetings with junior ministers. One took place recently.
“I asked if analysis had been done of the various Brexit scenarios. They confirmed that it had been, but they also confirmed that they wouldn’t be released to us. I don’t think that’s a sustainable or acceptable state of affairs and I made that point.”
Greater Manchester’s leaders have regular monthly updates on the impact of Brexit, including on investor confidence, house prices, economic growth and employment figures.
So far the biggest shift in the last two years has been in unemployment, which has risen 24pc among over-50s and 15pc across all age ranges.
Officials caution reading too much into the figures, however, pointing to changes in unemployment benefits that may have muddied the waters.
But they do point to ‘significant uncertainty’ among firms, with more than a third unsure how Brexit is going to affect recruitment.
Mr Burnham said he felt this would probably be the last month in which the updates felt ‘a little bit routine and academic’, however.
“It has been confirmed to me that the government’s white paper on proposals – particularly for the customs union – is going to be published on July 9,” he said.
“I think the situation at that point will change and it will become a very real discussion about the impact of their proposals on Greater Manchester.”
The mayor, who has previously hit out at ministers for keeping Greater Manchester ‘in the dark’ on Brexit, added: “We are months away from what increasingly feels like a cliff edge and it’s not an acceptable state of affairs.”
A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the EU said: “As we have repeatedly made clear, our programme of analysis is ongoing but we are not going to provide a running commentary on it.”