Thread by @fascinatorfun

1/ Could the author, Lord Bridge, explain what he meant when he, A’s then DexEU Minister, said to the HofL EU Select Committee on 13/10/2016 Q62 onwards re what he called the IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

2/ “We have used the method used by the Office for National Statistics to record economic activity, which is to use standard industry classification codes, and these have segmented the UK economy into roughly 100 production sectors.

3/ “We have looked at those to understand the size and contribution that each of these sectors makes to the economy and used that to support our analysis of the impact on them of Brexit. The codes are used by the Bank of England, BEIS and others across government....

4/ “... we have looked at the way those sectors are treated in EU law and how future negotiations might bear down on them. Just to be absolutely crystal clear, when I talk about the 51 sectors, it is all the sectors. It is not the 51 that are the most important or the biggest.

5/ “It is an attempt to try to get this into a manageable format so that we can analyse what Brexit might mean for those particular sectors. “

Then on 9th November 2016 in a joint letter with Lord Price to the same Committee, further elaborating on the oral evidence above:

6/ “We have structured our approach by sector because it is a robust way of breaking down the economy into units, which lend themselves readily to analysis.

7/ “These 51 sectors were chosen so as to break economic activity down into the lowest levels at which they had reasonably common relationships with the EU Regulatory Framework.

8/ “In addition, we took into account the way that the Office for National Statistics records economic activity.

9/ “We are using these categories to develop a rigorous understanding of the size and contribution of sectors to the economy, and use that to support our analysis of the impact on them of leaving the EU”.

10/. Where is all that work, Lord Bridge? Where is the “rigorous” economic impact modelling using ONS methods measured against different regulatory models?

It sure as hell isn’t in the two ring binder folders?

What is the truth? What part have you played in all of this?

11/. If our democracy and the well being of our country is to be saved it is past time that people at the top (& that includes you and Lord Price) come clean on all those impact assessments.

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Unrolled thread here for anyone who wants to keep a record of Lord Bridge’s evidence.

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