Scenes of high farce as MPs made to wait for White Paper

Farcical scenes took place in the Commons as the Government’s botched launch of a key Brexit document saw the sitting suspended during the middle of its announcement.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer branded the release of the Brexit white paper an “utter shambles”, while Speaker John Bercow described the situation as “most regrettable” before taking the rare step of pausing proceedings for five minutes.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was attempting to deliver his first statement to the House in his new role about the White Paper.

But chaos raged around him in the chamber due to frustration among MPs that they had yet to see the document they were set to question him about.

He was heckled and moments later Labour and Tory MPs ran from their seats after he confirmed copies were available outside the chamber.

Minutes later Labour and Tory MPs appeared back in the Commons with boxes full of the White Paper.

Labour former minister Ben Bradshaw could be seen throwing copies of the document to MPs on his own bench – at which Mr Bercow decided to suspend the sitting.

Mr Bercow told ministers it was a “source of considerable unhappiness on both sides of the House” that the White Paper had not been made available earlier.

He said: “Members of Parliament should have a copy of the White Paper about which they are to question him.”

Sir Keir said Mr Raab had “not got off to a very good start”, adding: “The utter shambles of the last 20 minutes that led to the suspension of the House during a statement is clear evidence of why the government is in such a mess.”

He asked why the government thought it appropriate to share the White Paper with journalists at 9am yesterday, “only to provide the Opposition with a copy three hours later”.

Mr Raab, in his reply, said: “Can I just apologise for the late arrival?

“We will look into what happened with the clerks and I’d like to apologise to (Sir Keir) and we’ll avoid it happening again.”

Mr Raab, during his statement, told MPs the white paper sets out the “right Brexit deal”, adding: “This is our vision for a bold, ambitious and innovative new partnership with the EU: principled and practical, faithful to the referendum – it delivers a deal that is good for the UK and good for our EU friends.”