Brexit department spent £45,000 printing copies of Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement before Commons defeat

Around 1,300 copies of the 599-page agreement were printed by officials before the deal faced a historic defeat in parliament

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
Tuesday 05 February 2019 12:02 GMT
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May vows to renegotiate Brexit agreement with EU after Commons vote

Over £45,000 was spent by the Brexit department printing copies of Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement which eventually suffered a historic defeat in the Commons.

The figures, released to the BBC, come as the prime minister attempts to reopen the agreement with the EU to make legal changes to the Northern Irish backstop, or find “alternative arrangements”.

Published online in November 2018, the agreement was endorsed by the EU 27 at a special summit following months of intense negotiations between British officials and their counterparts in Brussels.

But last month, MPs from all sides of the Commons rejected the agreement by 230 votes – the largest defeat of a government in parliamentary history.

According to the BBC, 1,300 copies of the 599-page agreement were printed by officials with around 1,100 of them being sent to MPs and peers in the House of Lords.

This cost the Department for Exiting the European (DExEU) £45,637.

Labour MP Naz Shah said: “Theresa May’s Brexit agreement isn’t even worth the paper it’s written on, let alone the tens of thousands of pounds.”

Since the vote, the prime minister has spearheaded an effort to find alternatives to the backstop – the EU’s insurance policy to avoid a hard border in Ireland, post-Brexit.

And on Tuesday, Ms May will use a speech in Belfast to insist that she can secure a Commons majority for a Brexit deal – despite the EU’s repeated insistence it will not reopen the withdrawal agreement.

A spokesperson for DExEU told The Independent: "The decision to print a number of hard copies of the withdrawal agreement was made in consultation with the parliamentary authorities as they are best placed to advise on the likely requirements of both Houses.

"This was particularly true in this instance given the significance of the withdrawal agreement and the need for parliamentarians to properly scrutinise it.

"The costs highlighted in the FOI response also include the secure delivery and handling of the document."

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