Ministers urged to ‘get a grip’ on Brexit secrecy

Ministers have been told to “get a grip” on Brexit as the shadow foreign secretary ridiculed their approach to negotiations.

Emily Thornberry attacked the UK Government for not letting the public see contingency plans for the muchtouted scenario of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

First Secretary of State Damian Green, stepping in for Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions, said the risk of Brexit without an agreement is “probably overstated”.

“We are also saying that it is conceivable we will be offered a kind of punishment deal that would be worse than no deal,” he told MPs. “That is not our intention. We want a deal and we want a good deal.

Ms Thornberry, who was deputising for Jeremy Corbyn, said: “Isn’t the truth now that we have got a no deal option on the table but they won’t tell us what it means, they have got contingency plans but they won’t let the public see them?

“As a country, we have got 20 months to go before Brexit. We absolutely have got to get a grip.”

Mr Green told her to wait for the Office for Budget Responsibility’s fiscal risks report due out today. The OBR later said the scope of the report does not include “no deal” and other outcomes from the Brexit negotiations.

Meanwhile, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said the UK had fallen short on protecting EU nationals living in Britain.

“The British position does not allow those persons concerned to continue to live their lives as they do today,” he said.

The Frenchman also took a swipe at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for saying the EU can “go whistle” for a large divorce pay-off from the UK.

Mr Barnier said: “I’m not hearing any whistling, just the clock ticking.”

Emily Thornberry.