On Wednesday, the UK government issued a document on possible consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union at the request of the parliament. The paper says that the United Kingdom will face a number of negative consequences of the no-deal Brexit immediately after the country’s exit from the bloc. At the same time, Gove said that the government would not release all cabinet communications on the no-deal Brexit, including those via WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, Facebook and email.
“This Address is inappropriate in principle and in practice, would on its own terms purport to require the Government to contravene the law, and is singularly unfair to the named individuals,” Gove said in a Wednesday letter to Chair of the parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee Dominic Grieve.
Later, Grieve accused the government of undermining the principles of democracy.
“Even a partial release of the Yellowhammer documents is enough to show how deep the damage a no-deal exit from the EU would do. [UK Prime Minister] Boris Johnson cannot portray forcing an undemocratic no-deal on the country as patriotic. On the contrary, it would be deeply damaging to our economic interests and to social cohesion,” Grieve said.
He also called on holding a new referendum on the country’s withdrawal from the European Union.
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016 but the withdrawal was delayed several times. After then-Prime Minister Theresa May failed to come up with an acceptable plan to leave the bloc by 29 March of this year, the deadline was moved to 31 October. Since the beginning of his tenure, Johnson promised that the United Kingdom would withdraw from the bloc with or without a deal.