LONDON (Reuters) - Ministers will not be held in contempt of parliament for their statements about the existence of studies on how Brexit will affect the economy, Britain's House of Commons speaker John Bercow said on Thursday.
Opposition politicians have written to the Speaker over the last week to ask whether the government has misled parliament after ministers said dozens of economic impact assessments they had been told to publish did not, in fact, exist.
The government has been embroiled in a long-running argument with lawmakers - including from the ruling Conservative Party - over what preparatory work the government has undertaken, and how much of it should be made public.
Speaking in parliament, Bercow said ministers could have been "considerably clearer" in their statements to parliament and criticised the government for withholding information about the economic impact of Brexit, but stopped short of saying they had misled parliament.
"From the evidence which I have seen to date I have concluded that the test which I am bound to apply - that there is an arguable case that there has, on this matter, been a contempt of the house - has not been met in this case," he said.
