MPs demand fresh Brexit analysis from Bank of England and Treasury
The chair of an influential committee of MPs has called on the Bank of England and the Treasury to provide fresh analysis into the financial impact of different Brexit scenarios.
Nicky Morgan, who heads up the Treasury Select Committee in Parliament, has asked Bank of England governor Mark Carney and Treasury permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar to submit up-to-date findings on how Britain’s departure from the EU could affect the economy.
Read more: Will the Bank of England cut or raise interest rates?
The request for updated analysis comes almost 12 months after the committee first asked the UK’s top banking bodies to submit reports into the impact of different Brexit scenarios ahead of a planned deadline to leave the EU by 31 March.
In November last year the Bank of England gave its verdict, warning that a worst-case scenario based on a “disorderedly Brexit” could trigger a recession worse than that of the 2008 financial crisis.
The report, which was based on potential scenarios rather than forecasts, angered prominent Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, who branded Carney a ‘second-tier failed politician’.
In its findings Threadneedle Street also said that the UK’s banking sector could survive any Brexit outcome, with every major British bank passing the year’s financial stress tests.
“The purpose of what we’ve released today… is not supposed to make people scared, it’s supposed to provide reassurance that even if this happened, which is not likely, the system is more than ready for it,” Carney said at the time.
Read more: No-deal Brexit fears have increased, Carney warns
In her statement today, Morgan said: “Economic analysis of the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration that was produced at the Treasury Committee’s request will be almost a year old on the 31 October Brexit deadline.”
She added: “This will ensure that Parliament is as informed as possible as it considers key decisions about the future of our country.”