Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 19 February (HL13430), whether disclosing further details of their planning to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is in the public interest; if not, why not; and if not, what assessment they have made of the compliance of such non-disclosure with paragraph 1.3(d) of the ministerial code, published in January 2018.

Paragraph 1.3(d) of the ministerial code states Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000;

Information relating to the Her Majesty’s Government planning to avoid the hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is exempt from disclosure under section 35 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which states; Information held by a government department or by the Welsh Assembly Government is exempt information if it relates to (a) The formulation of Government policy.