Press

In an extraordinary exchange in the Commons on Thursday, Rees-Mogg asked Baker to confirm whether he had been told Treasury staff had deliberately skewed analyses to show all scenerios apart from remaining in the Customs Union would be bad for the UK economy. “Will he confirm that he heard from Charles Grant, from the Centre For European Reform, that officials in the Treasury had deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the Customs Union were bad, and that officials intended to use this to influence policy?” the hardline Brexiteer asked.

The Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg has sought to defend his suggestion that Treasury civil servants are rigging their Brexit analysis. He raised the allegation in the Commons this morning, suggesting that Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Research, had said that “officials in the Treasury had deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the customs union were bad, and that officials intended to use this to influence policy.” Grant has denied saying this, and others who were at the event where the remark was supposed to have been made have backed Grant’s account. In response Rees-Mogg tweeted this this afternoon.

Rees-Mogg was referring to an alleged conversation between Baker and Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Research and an expert on EU negotiations, at a lunch at the Tory party conference. However, several individuals present at the event challenged the claim, including Grant himself and a Tory MP, Antoinette Sandbach. Prospect magazine later issued an audio of the conversation in which there is no suggestion about officials trying to rig the analysis. After the audio emerged, Baker said his answer was based on an “honest recollection of the conversation” but he now stood corrected. He added that he would apologise to Grant and clarify his comments in parliament.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading anti-EU Conservative MP, had asked Mr Baker in the Commons to confirm whether he had been informed by a think-tank that the Treasury had “deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than [the UK] staying in the [EU] customs union were bad and that officials intended to use this to influence policy”. ...Mr Rees-Mogg suggested Mr Baker had been given this information by Charles Grant, the head of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. Mr Grant responded later by saying he recalled discussing Treasury research into Brexit with Mr Baker last October. But Mr Grant added: “I did not say or imply that the Treasury had deliberately developed a model to show that all non-customs union options were bad, with the intention to influence policy.

A Tory minister faces fury after he failed to challenge a "conspiracy theory" that civil servants are trying to sabotage Hard Brexit. Brexit minister Steve Baker said it was an "extraordinary allegation" that Treasury officials - who are meant to be impartial - have been promoting staying in the customs union in order to influence policy. Speaking in the House of Commons, told MPs the theory was "implausible" but did not say it was untrue - making his boss, Brexit Secretary David Davis, visibly wince. That's despite the man accused of making the claim, Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, categorically denying he ever did so.

Luigi Scazzieri at the Centre for European Reform thinks that even if populists of any stripe get into power in Italy, it won't change much for the course of eurozone and EU policy. 

“Hopes that Italy could be the third engine of a Franco-German partnership to renew the EU are probably mistaken,” writes Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform. “No matter what happens on March 4th, tensions between the new government and the EU are assured.”

Dodatkowo poza Polską problemy mają też inne kraje. Tradycyjnie Węgry, ale teraz Komisja jest poważnie zaniepokojona reformą wymiaru sprawiedliwości w Rumunii. Do tego dochodzi skorumpowana Bułgaria i Czechy, gdzie premierem może zostać człowiek oskarżany o defraudację unijnych funduszy. – Są kraje, które same mają problem z praworządnością i nie będą głosowały przeciwko Polsce. A są takie, które uważają, że to nieskuteczny instrument – uważa Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, ekspertka think tanku CER. Według niej polski rząd w krótkim terminie wygra, bo nie będzie większości 22 państw za uruchomieniem artykułu 7.