Baker sorry for failing to correct claim about Treasury
A BREXIT minister has avoided being sacked but was forced into a Commons apology for raising allegations which suggested Treasury officials were trying to keep Britain in the customs union.
Steve Baker said he should have corrected or dismissed an account of the claim relayed to the Commons by Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, which he initially described as “essentially correct” and “extraordinary”.
He appeared in the Commons at the start of business yesterday to correct the record and apologise, hours after Prime Minister Theresa May insisted she would not sack him from his ministerial role.
The storm erupted after leading Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg asked the minister to confirm if he had heard from Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform think tank, that “officials in the Treasury have deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the customs union were bad and that officials intended to use this to influence policy”.
Mr Grant strongly denied the claim and Mr Baker later had to backtrack when audio recordings showed his recollection was inaccurate.
Mr Baker told the Commons: “In the context of that audio, I accept I should have corrected or dismissed the premise of my honourable friend’s question.
“I have apologised to Mr Charles Grant, who is an honest and trustworthy man.
“As I’ve put on record many times, I have the highest regard for our hard-working civil servants.
“I’m grateful for this early opportunity to correct the record and I apologise to the House.”