Author: Joe Watts
Posted: 21/ 12/ 2016
The large consultancy firm which fell out with Downing Street after a leaked memo it wrote suggested Theresa May has no Brexit plan, will now forgo what could be millions of pounds worth of Government contracts.
Deloitte said it had «put forward a plan» to heal wounds with Number 10, after last month’s leaked memo suggested Ms May’s cabinet was riven with splits and unable to come up with a negotiating strategy in time before Brexit talks begin.
The firm will now undergo a six month moratorium on pitching for lucrative government work, according to The Times.
A spokesman said: «Deloitte regrets the publication of the two-page note, and has apologised for the unintended disruption it caused government.
“The note was for internal audiences and was not a Deloitte point of view. We have put forward a plan for working with central government to put this matter behind us.»
Downing St declined to comment on the reports, but at the time the memo emerged ministers were furious.
It warned that Cabinet infighting was delaying the Government’s ability to agree a negotiating strategy, which may not be ready for six months – well after the Prime Minister’s deadline of March 2017 for triggering Article 50.
It also identified «well over 500 projects» being undertaken by Whitehall departments to implement Brexit, creating the need for up to 30,000 extra civil servants.
No 10 said at the time that the memo, which appeared to be an attempt by Deloitte to pitch for government work, had «no credence» and it did not recognise the claims it made.
As the fall-out intensified in November, Deloitte issued a statement admitting its report was not done at the behest of ministers and was «conducted without access to No 10 or input from any other government departments.»