Pro-Brexit Minister attacks civil service, spurring backlash

Baker, who was a key figure in the Leave campaign, told the House of Commons on Thursday that he had been told by Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, that Treasury officials had sought to distort economic modeling on Brexit to force a change in government policy. He was responding to a question from Jacob Rees-Mogg, a devoted Brexit backer who is a potential leadership rival to Theresa May.

Baker’s position became more difficult when Grant denied saying any such thing. In a statement on his website, he said he recalled telling the minister that he was aware of Treasury research showing that the economic damage of leaving the EU’s customs union would not be offset by new trade deals.

“I did not say or imply that the Treasury had deliberately developed a model to show that all non-customs union options were bad, with the intention to influence policy,” he said. Duncan Weldon, the economist who chaired the event last year at which Baker and Grant spoke, confirmed Grant’s account, as did Antoinette Sandbach, a Conservative lawmaker who was also present.