Brexit department in new row over redacted economic analysis papers

David Davis has been accused of keeping parliament “in the dark” after handing over edited versions of analysis of the potential impact of Brexit on 58 sectors of the UK economy.

The handover of the documents to the Commons Committee on Exiting the EU, chaired by Labour MP Hilary Benn, came a day ahead of the deadline and followed warnings that Mr Davis could be held in contempt of parliament if he didn’t comply.

The committee will meet today to decide whether to publish all or part of the documents.

It is understood that the documents do not represent the full extent of Brexit analysis carried out by government, but that the Department for Exiting the EU believes it has fulfilled the request for information from parliament.

In a letter to Mr Benn, Mr Davis said: “Given that we have received no assurances from the committee regarding how any information passed will be used, we have sought not to include commercially, market and negotiation sensitive information.

“Delivering a successful outcome to our EU exit negotiations for the whole country requires keeping some information confidential for the purposes of the negotiations.” In the letter, Mr Davis also called for a meeting with Mr Benn before the committee decides whether to publish the information.

Labour committee member Seema Malhotra, who has led efforts to examine the sectoral papers, said MPS must be given the full documents “and nothing less”.

She said: “David Davis has publicly stated for months that the reports are complete.

“In evidence to the select committee he had said they were ‘in excruciating detail’. In November, his department was saying they ‘didn’t exist’.

“British businesses and families deserve better than this.”