KEIR STARMER QC, MP
Member of Parliament for Holborn & St Pancras
Rt Hon David Davis MP
Secretary of State for Exiting the EU
9 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AS
18 October 2016
Dea Done x F
| am writing to follow up on last Wednesday's Opposition Day debate on Parliamentary
scrutiny of the Brexit process.
Labour accept and respect the referendum result and are focused on achieving the best
possible deal on what will be the defining issue of this Parliament and for many years to come.
However, both those who have voted to leave the EU and those who voted to remain
recognise that different negotiating stances under Article 50 could provide radically different
outcomes, each of which carries very significant risks and opportunities. The question of what
the terms of our exit from the EU should be was not on the ballot paper on 23 June, nor was
it in the Conservative Party’s 2015 manifesto. Very close scrutiny of and full accountability for
the Government's plans for leaving the EU are therefore essential. This is a point that has
considerable cross-party support in the House of Commons and from employers, businesses
and trade unions.
| welcome the Government’s commitment last Wednesday in the House of Commons that,
and | quote:
‘there should be a transparent debate on the Government’s plans for leaving the EU’
(Hansard c414, emphasis added).
J also welcome your commitment during the debate that the House of Commons will ‘have at
least the information available to the European Parliament’ during negotiations, mirroring the
2010 framework agreement between the European Commission and the European
Parliament that ‘Parliament shall be immediately and fully informed at all stages of the
negotiation and conclusion of international agreements, including the definition of
negotiating directives” (Hansard, c316).
In order for the Government to keep these commitments and to help build a national
consensus on Brexit, it is vital that its plans outlining the basic terms of the proposed Brexit
deal are published in sufficient time to allow proper scrutiny.
House of Commons, London SWIAOAA Tel: 020 7219 6234
Website: www.keirstarmer.com Twitter: @Keir_Starmer
Email: keirstarmer.mp@parliament.uk| am therefore writing to you today to urge you to outline the Government's intended
timetable for publishing its basic plans for Brexit.
Since the House of Commons will need time properly to scrutinise the plans and, no doubt,
the House of Commons Brexit Select Committee along with the devolved administrations will
want to do the same, | assume the plans will be made available no later than January 2017.
Could you confirm that this will be the case or specify another date upon which the
Government proposes to publish its plans.
Obviously | would expect the Government to assess the economic impact of its plans for
exiting the EU. Please confirm that this assessment will be part of the process between now
and March 2017 when the Prime Minister intends to invoke Article 50. Please also confirm
that the economic risk assessment of the plans will be made available to the House of
Commons alongside the Government's basic plans for Brexit when they are published,
Finally, | can confirm that Labour will be pressing for a vote in Government time in the House
of Commons on its plans for exiting the EU. Time for a vote and full debate therefore also
needs to be built into the Government's timetable; our economy, businesses and jobs depend
upon it,
This vote is needed before Article 50 is invoked. A vote at the end of the exercise is no
substitute. By then, the negotiations will be over and Parliament will have had no say or
influence in the process. That would be wholly unacceptable.
| look forward to hearing from you at the earliest possible opportunity on this extremely
important issue.
Yours sincerely,
Sa ( wd
bp co
Keir Starmer QC MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Leaving the EU
Member of Parliament for Holborn & St Pancras