[heero_yuy]

Quote from City AM:


Steve Baker has been accused of undermining the government he is part of, after upsetting civil servants for the second time this week.

The Brexit minister this morning confirmed backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg's claim that he had heard from Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, that “officials in the Treasury have deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the customs union were bad and that officials intended to use this to influence policy".

Baker said: “I am sorry to say that my honourable friend’s account is essentially correct [that Grant had made this claim].”

He added: "At the time I considered it implausible because my direct experience is that civil servants are extraordinarily careful to uphold the impartiality of the civil service. I think we must proceed with great caution in this matter but I heard him raise this issue. I think we need to be very careful not to take this forward in an inappropriate way... I think it would be quite extraordinary if it turned out that such a thing had happened."