Brexit - Michael Gove Says Bill Will Protect 'Integrity' of UK - BBC News

9/13/2020 Brexit: Michael Gove says bill will protect 'integrity' of UK - BBC News
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Brexit: Michael Gove says bill will protect 'integrity' of UK

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EU-UK post-Brexit trade talks
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Michael Gove: "What we can't have... is the EU disrupting or putting at threat the integrity of the UK"
Michael Gove has defended plans to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement
as a means of protecting the "integrity" of the UK.
The Cabinet Office minister said the UK was being "generous" with the EU over the Brexit
negotiations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54129927?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world&link_location=live-reporting-story 1/14
The EU has threatened legal action over the Internal Market Bill, which ministers say will
break international law in a "specific and limited way".
PM Boris Johnson is urging Tory MPs to back it, after some raised concerns.
The bill, which will be formally debated in the House of Commons for the first time on
Monday, addresses the Northern Ireland Protocol - the part of the Brexit Withdrawal
Agreement designed to prevent a hard border returning to the island of Ireland.
If this became law it would give UK ministers powers to modify or "disapply" rules relating to
the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland that will come into force from 1
January, if the UK and EU are unable to strike a trade deal.
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Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the Commons the bill, which would go against
the Withdrawal Agreement signed by the UK and EU, would "break international law in a very
specific and limited way".
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But Mr Gove said the attorney general had said the proposal would be consistent with the rule
of law - and that it was important to have an "insurance policy".
He insisted the government was being "proportionate and generous" in its approach to the EU
talks.
Mr Gove said: "These steps are a safety net, they're a long-stop in the event, which I don't
believe will come about but we do need to be ready for, that the EU follow through on what
some have said they might do which is, in effect, to separate Northern Ireland from the rest of
the United Kingdom."
While admitting it was a "crunch moment", he insisted "we have got the support of our own
MPs".
No more 'miserable squabbling'

The EU and UK have less than five weeks to agree a deal before Mr Johnson's 15 October
deadline - after which he says he is prepared to "walk away".
Informal talks are due to resume on Monday, with the next official round of talks - the ninth
since March - starting in Brussels on 28 September.
The EU says the planned changes must be scrapped or they risk jeopardising the UK-EU
trade talks and the European Parliament says will "under no circumstances ratify" any trade
deal reached between the UK and EU if the "UK authorities breach or threaten to breach" the
Withdrawal Agreement.
EPA
On Friday Mr Johnson had a Zoom call with about 250 of his MPs, in which he said the party
could not return to "miserable squabbling" over Europe.
Conservative backbencher Sir Bob Neill, who chairs the Commons Justice Committee, said
he was not reassured by the prime minister's Zoom call. He is tabling an amendment to the
bill to try to force a separate parliamentary vote on any changes to the Withdrawal
Agreement. "I believe it is potentially a harmful act for this country, it would damage our
reputation and I think it will make it harder to strike trade deals going forward," he said.
Former Conservative party leaders Theresa May, Lord Howard and Sir John Major are also
among senior figures urging Mr Johnson to think again.
Both Ireland and the EU have warned that Mr Johnson's plans pose a serious risk to the
peace process rather than protecting the Good Friday Agreement, as the government claims.
Writing that it had become clear there might be a "serious misunderstanding" between the UK
and EU over the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Johnson said the UK must be protected from
what he called a "disaster" of the EU being able to "carve up our country" and "endanger
peace and stability in Northern Ireland".
He said there was still a "very good chance" of the UK and EU striking a deal by mid-October
similar to that previously agreed between the EU and Canada - which got rid of most, but
not all, tariffs on goods.
But in a column in the Daily Telegraph, he accused the EU of adopting an "extreme"

interpretation of the Northern Ireland Protocol to impose "a full-scale trade border down the
Irish Sea" that could stop the transport of food from Britain to Northern Ireland.
Mr Gove told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it would be "irrational" not to allow the
transportation of food in such a way, which would happen if the UK was not granted third-
country listing. Such a listing is needed for the export of food.
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9/13/2020 Brexit: Michael Gove says bill will protect 'integrity' of UK - BBC News

Home News Sport Reel Worklife Travel Future M

Brexit: Michael Gove says bill will protect 'integrity' of UK

EU-UK post-Brexit trade talks

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Analysis: Despite bitter Brexit row can deal still be done?

UK signs first major post-Brexit trade deal

Brexit to dominate week ahead in Parliament

UK at odds with EU over approval for food exports

No more 'miserable squabbling'

But in a column in the Daily Telegraph, he accused the EU of adopting an "extreme"

Boris Johnson EU-UK post-Brexit trade talks Michael Gove

European Union Brexit

Share this story About sharing

More on this story

Brexit deal stand-off threatens trade talks

Brexit: EU ultimatum to UK over withdrawal deal changes

UK and Japan in first major post-Brexit trade deal

Confidence vote in Scottish Labour leader withdrawn

'We've been forgotten, abandoned'

Afghan-Taliban talks a rare 'opportunity for peace'

UK 'must avoid party weekend' ahead of new rules

I read all those Trump tell-alls. Here's what I learned

Back to school: The new normal

'Europe does not exist. This is hell'

Nigeria's opportunity for return of Benin Bronzes

How India and China bought peace - for now

Who will get coronavirus vaccine first, and how?

Covid hotspots, six months after pandemic declared

Will this be the first European city to ban cars?

Remembering Mandela's gentle but fierce lawyer

Elsewhere on the BBC

Motorways to trial 60mph limits to cut pollution 2

Coronavirus: Avoid 'party weekend' ahead of new restrictions, 3

Why you can trust BBC News

BBC News Services

Get news alerts

Contact BBC News

Explore the BBC

Terms of Use About the BBC

Privacy Policy Cookies

Accessibility Help Parental Guidance

Contact the BBC Get Personalised Newsletters

Advertise with us AdChoices / Do Not Sell My Info

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