Debunking

James Chapman: UKGOV is hiding the Brexit truth from Scotland.

by R J Hainey · Published August 18, 2017 · Updated October 17, 2017

James Chapman used to be the Chief of Staff at the Department for Exiting the European Union(DExEU ).

This week he tweeted this extraordinary message suggesting that the UK Government is withholding a report which shows Scotland will be one of the areas worst-hit by Brexit.

Rogue Agent?

Now, it could be that James Chapman, despite his high-profile role within the key department dealing with Brexit, is not a reliable source.

He could have lost his mind, he could be trying to settle a grudge or he could just be an attention seeker. However, let’s face it, it’s not beyond the realms of plausibility that the UK government would keep important information from Scotland if it was politically expedient to do so. The McCrone Report springs to mind for some reason.

Also, there have been several reports already suggesting that Scotland will be one of the areas most badly affected.

For instance, in April we reported that the Federation Of Small Businesses published evidence showing that Scottish SMEs are set to be worst hit.

This report by The London School of Economics suggests that Aberdeen will suffer the second highest impact in the whole of the UK. With the central belt(where most Scots live and work) also among the worst affected parts of the UK.

Aberdeen predicted to suffer particularly badly according to LSE.

So, while there may be nothing to the Chapman tweet, I would imagine that the UK would indeed have commissioned a report into the regional impact of Brexit. If so, it is not outlandish to imagine that this report showed such bad news that they decided to keep it to themselves.

So, in the interest of democracy, I decided to fire off a Freedom of Information request this morning to see if I could shed any light on the matter. I will keep you informed of any reply I receive.

You can help by sending one too. Just knock up a short letter and post or email it to either of the following addresses.

Update: I received a reply for DEXEU.