Hilary Benn Is Frustrated The Brexit Committee Was Disbanded As Border Chaos Spirals
21 January
The government’s decision to shut down the Brexit committee just days after UK agreed a free trade deal with the European Union was a “big frustration” and means ministers will face less scrutiny, committee chair Hilary Benn told PoliticsHome.
Amid severe disruption at the UK’s borders this month, House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote to Benn telling him that the government had denied the committee’s request to continue its work for six months.
The committee, formed in 2016 following the EU referendum, had intended to interview key members of government – including Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator, David Frost – about the effects of the trade deal, as well as the implementation of the protocol agreed for Northern Ireland.