Pro-Brexit Minister Attacks Civil Service, Spurring Backlash
- Brexit minister said he was told of plan to undermine exit
- But the man Baker quoted denies saying any such thing
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Brexit Minister Steve Baker was under fire for the second time in three days for casting doubt on the professionalism of officials who forecast that leaving the European Union will damage Britain’s economy.
Baker, who was a key figure in the Leave campaign, told the House of Commons on Thursday that he had been told by Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, that Treasury officials had sought to distort economic modeling on Brexit to force a change in government policy. He was responding to a question from Jacob Rees-Mogg, a devoted Brexit backer who is a potential leadership rival to Theresa May.