UK minister accused of undermining the civil service

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading anti-EU Conservative MP, had asked Mr Baker in the Commons to confirm whether he had been informed by a think-tank that the Treasury had “deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than [the UK] staying in the [EU] customs union were bad and that officials intended to use this to influence policy”. ...Mr Rees-Mogg suggested Mr Baker had been given this information by Charles Grant, the head of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. Mr Grant responded later by saying he recalled discussing Treasury research into Brexit with Mr Baker last October. But Mr Grant added: “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.

”Prospect magazine released an audio recording of an October lunch meeting involving Mr Baker and Mr Grant, at which the latter said the Treasury was determined that the UK should stay in the customs union after Brexit.But Mr Grant is not recorded as suggesting that officials think all non-customs union options are bad, or that they are trying to influence policy.