Brexit and Open Government in the UK

Résumé

[extract] How will Brexit influence the UK’s transparency regime and how, in turn, will openness shape the UK’s Brexit process? There are three ways of looking at how Brexit may influence open government in the UK: through possible changes to old policies and the pushing of new ones, through the new Prime Minister championing transparency or supporting secrecy, and the openness of the Brexit process itself, which so far has seen a struggle between the executive’s secretive prerogative powers and the legislature’s rights to know.

How will Brexit influence open government and how will openness influence Brexit? In June 2016, the UK voted 51% to 48% to leave the European Union and in the wake of the vote Britain had a new Prime Minister and a new government. However, despite the promises of the new government the exact process of leaving the EU, as set out in article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, remains unclear and has become increasingly contentious. What appeared a relatively clear process has become opaque and contested.