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MPs have voted to force the Government to publish documents setting out the impact of a no-deal Brexit and private messages about the planning for the five-week suspension of Parliament.
In yet another House of Commons defeat for Boris Johnson, the emergency motion passed by 311 votes to 302.
Put forward by the former Tory MP Dominic Grieve, the motion orders ministers the surrender of the documents by this Wednesday.
The Government will now have to publish all ‘Operation Yellowhammer’ no-deal preparation documents as well as all communications relating to prorogation, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Facebook, email, text and iMessages sent to, from or between Mr Johnson’s top team of Downing Street advisers.
The private communications include those involving Mr Johnson’s chief-of-staff, Dominic Cummings.
Grieve said: “The House is about to be prorogued for five weeks, two weeks after we return is the anticipated date on which we are going to leave the European Union.
“There is much which is left undebated and, in particular, we are not going to have an opportunity to ask necessary questions of the government both in relation to its own prepared documents under Yellowhammer, which it has prepared for its own use in relation to the risks of a no deal.
“And, in addition to that, we are not going to have the opportunity to ask what I think are the necessary and unfortunately searching questions about the government’s motives in proroguing this House and the potential difference between what they have said in public in this matter and what the evidence suggests is the reality.”
Michael Gove, the cabinet minister who oversees no-deal planning, said: “This is a fishing expedition where every single communication to do with prorogation is being sought and it takes a coach and horses through our data protection legislation.“
He added: “Their desire to rifle through private correspondences of advisers is to set aside legal precedent and the rights of citizens.”
Mr Gove said of Operation Yellowhammer: “The government is absolutely committed to sharing with this House as much as we can.”
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