U.K.'s Secret Brexit Studies Reveal That Airbus Makes Planes
- Secret economic analyses published online by Parliament
- ‘Most of this could be found on Wikipedia,’ complains lawmaker
The Airbus A350 wing production line in Broughton, U.K.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
For months, journalists tried to get their hands on government papers setting out how leaving the European Union will affect different parts of the British economy. They contained, according to Brexit Secretary David Davis, “excruciating detail.”
But despite boasting about their contents, ministers were reluctant to let anyone else see the documents. In November, after being forced to give way by a vote in Parliament, the government allowed lawmakers to read them under controlled conditions. Their phones were confiscated, and they were only permitted to make notes with pen and paper, lest too much information leak into the public domain.