Government spends almost £100m on Brexit consultants

Exclusive: leaked Whitehall report criticises departments for lack of transparency

Nearly 100m of public money has been spent on private consultancy firms recruited by the government to provide Brexit advice, including no-deal planning, a leaked Whitehall report obtained by the Guardian reveals.

The draft report by the National Audit Office (NAO), which scrutinises spending for parliament, details how government departments have paid at least 97m to Brexit consultants up to April this year and criticises them for not meeting transparency standards.