Michael Gove: Future PM could change Brexit deal
2 min read
A future Prime Minister could alter the Brexit deal Theresa May strikes with Brussels, Michael Gove said today.
The Environment Secretary threw red meat to anti-EU Tory backbenchers as he said the Chequers plan the Government is working to was only the right strategy "for now".
Hardline pro-Brexiteers have savaged the Government blueprint that proposes Britain remains in a single market with the EU for goods.
David Davis and Boris Johnson quit their Cabinet jobs over the plan and were followed out by a stream of junior ministers and ministerial bag carriers.
Pro-Brexit Tories in the European Research Group argue it will leave the UK a rule-taker on goods and compromise sovereignty, among other gripes.
But anti-EU Mr Gove suggested the Chequers plan was only temporary, and a future administration could renegotiate with Brussels.
"There's one critical thing, a future prime minister could always choose to alter the relationship between Britain and the European Union," he told the BBC Andrew Marr show today.
"But the Chequers approach is the right one for now because we have got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the European Union."
It came as Mrs May insisted would continue to be a "bloody difficult woman" in Brexit negotiations - a description bestowed upon her by Tory grandee Ken Clarke.
In a new BBC documentary, she said: “There’s a difference between those who think you can only be bloody difficult in public, and those who think actually you bide your time, and you’re bloody difficult when the time is right – and when it really matters.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
