David Davis 'could be in contempt' over Brexit redactions

Brexit Secretary David Davis could be in contempt of Parliament for redacting dozens of impact assessments on Brexit, Labour has claimed.

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said the move was "very serious" because "bad decisions" were made and "nobody's actually shone the light on them".

The Government was forced to hand over studies on the effect of Britain's EU divorce on 58 sectors after a vote in Parliament earlier this month.

Mr Davis gave members of the Commons Brexit select committee a single paper copy - more than 800 pages long - to comply with the midnight deadline on Tuesday.

But key information was left out, with the Government saying it had satisfied the motion but was withholding some parts deemed market sensitive.

Sir Keir warned ministers could be in contempt of Parliament.

He told Sky News: "David Davis now seems to have taken things into his own hands, saying 'I'm not going to pass all of the documents over, I'm going to hold some of them so you can't see them.'

"And that is to treat Parliament with contempt because this was debated and voted on."

He said Labour had "always accepted" anything that would "genuinely undermine the negotiations" should not be published.

But he added: "In my experience the best decisions in life are the ones that are held up to the light and tested.

"And the really bad decisions historically are the ones that nobody's actually shone the light on as they're being made."

Lib Dem Brexit select committee member Wera Hobhouse said: "There is a fine line between what is commercially sensitive and what is simply politically embarrassing for the Government."

A spokesperson for DExEU told Sky News: "The Government has satisfied the motion - providing the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee with information covering 58 sectors of the economy. We have also shared the information with the Lords EU Committee.

"We have always been clear that our analysis does not exist in the form Parliament requested. We have taken time to bring together the analysis we do have in a way that meets Parliament's specific ask."