"The Government is right to try and negotiate both the divorce settlement and a new trading relationship in tandem, but it should also be prepared for the worst case – i.e. that a new trade agreement is not reached or ratified by the day we leave… Without an economic impact assessment of 'no deal' and without evidence that steps are being taken to mitigate the damaging effect of such an outcome, the Government's assertion that 'no deal is better than a bad deal' is unsubstantiated," Benn was quoted as saying in a statement accompanying a House of Commons Brexit Select Committee report.
Benn added that the public and the parliament had a right to the maximum possible information about the impact of future trading options that are under consideration.
The report, which focuses on the government's negotiation objectives, urges the government to consider how Brexit will affect Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to take into account regional, demographic and economic concerns when negotiating the deal.
At the end of March, several eurosceptic lawmakers walked out of the House of Commons Brexit Select Committee after being presented with a "gloomy" report on the government's plans to handle withdrawal from the European Union.
Last week, the United Kingdom finally triggered the EU withdrawal process by handing a formal letter to European Council President Donald Tusk. According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom now has two years to complete the negotiations, and must leave the European Union on March 29, 2019.
More about: #brexit #UnitedKingdom #London
-1780923278.jpg&h=190&w=280&zc=1&q=100)
