The Brexit sectoral reports are an insult to the public's intelligence
The wait is over. The secrecy can end. In recent weeks MPs had to bind themselves to silence and go into a sealed room in order to read these sensitive documents. Now the sectoral analyses for Brexit have been released to the public.
What a travesty they are.
Of course, this outcome was already suspected. MPs who had gone to see the documents had already reported that they were incredibly basic and contained little new information. Now everyone is free to go see the documents themselves and confirm this sorry state of affairs. It is no surprise that they were rebranded away from their previous title of "impact assessments", for the very simple reason that not one of them actually assesses any impact that Brexit might have on the sector in question. Indeed, even "analysis" seems to be too fine a word for the slapdash piece of work that could have been produced by any number of undergrads, each document being merely a description of the current state of affairs (unless one considers pointing out that the fishing industry is concentrated in coastal towns to be analysis).
Just at a glance it can be seen that these reports almost only contain information that is already in the public domain. In some senses the public has been presented with glorified Wikipedia pages. The fact that they weren't even properly formatted, meaning that the browser tab for a document will contain "Word Document" and " COMMONS FINAL CLEAN", is indicative of how these documents were likely cobbled together at the last minute. What useful information there might have been, the parts where representatives of the sectors gave their own views, were blocked from publication - the government preferring people did not see views which would almost certainly run directly against government policy.
These publications are an insult to the British public. The average person can be confidently relied upon to expect in-depth analysis and expert opinion when embarking on one of the most complex sets of negotiations ever faced by a British government. Ordinary people know that this is no way to go ahead with Brexit and that making policy and proceeding with red lines as articles of faith whilst having no supporting information or facts about the impacts of those policies is simple incompetence.
The government is asking the British people to blindly follow the government wherever they may lead them and to not ask any questions. This is simply unacceptable and a sign of the callous disregard that Brexiteers hold for the impact their fantasy will have on the lives of ordinary people.
Senior Brexiteers in the government seem to believe that they can get away with selling the public a con and that these sorts of fig leaf attempts at looking serious will make public scrutiny and attention just go away. They will find that treating voters in such a way, imagining that they could never be clever enough to catch on to their game and that they will invest unlimited trust in their great leaders, will severely backfire.
What a travesty they are.
Of course, this outcome was already suspected. MPs who had gone to see the documents had already reported that they were incredibly basic and contained little new information. Now everyone is free to go see the documents themselves and confirm this sorry state of affairs. It is no surprise that they were rebranded away from their previous title of "impact assessments", for the very simple reason that not one of them actually assesses any impact that Brexit might have on the sector in question. Indeed, even "analysis" seems to be too fine a word for the slapdash piece of work that could have been produced by any number of undergrads, each document being merely a description of the current state of affairs (unless one considers pointing out that the fishing industry is concentrated in coastal towns to be analysis).
Just at a glance it can be seen that these reports almost only contain information that is already in the public domain. In some senses the public has been presented with glorified Wikipedia pages. The fact that they weren't even properly formatted, meaning that the browser tab for a document will contain "Word Document" and " COMMONS FINAL CLEAN", is indicative of how these documents were likely cobbled together at the last minute. What useful information there might have been, the parts where representatives of the sectors gave their own views, were blocked from publication - the government preferring people did not see views which would almost certainly run directly against government policy.
These publications are an insult to the British public. The average person can be confidently relied upon to expect in-depth analysis and expert opinion when embarking on one of the most complex sets of negotiations ever faced by a British government. Ordinary people know that this is no way to go ahead with Brexit and that making policy and proceeding with red lines as articles of faith whilst having no supporting information or facts about the impacts of those policies is simple incompetence.
The government is asking the British people to blindly follow the government wherever they may lead them and to not ask any questions. This is simply unacceptable and a sign of the callous disregard that Brexiteers hold for the impact their fantasy will have on the lives of ordinary people.
Senior Brexiteers in the government seem to believe that they can get away with selling the public a con and that these sorts of fig leaf attempts at looking serious will make public scrutiny and attention just go away. They will find that treating voters in such a way, imagining that they could never be clever enough to catch on to their game and that they will invest unlimited trust in their great leaders, will severely backfire.
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