THE Brexit trade deal will allow the UK and the EU to have a “special relationship, Michael Gove has said.
The Cabinet Office minister – who will begin selling deal to MPs ahead of a Common’s vote – also said the agreement will end the “ugly” politics that has blighted the UK since the referendum.
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Writing in The Times, Mr Gove spoke of the new relationship with the EU using a term more commonly used when talking about the UK’s close bond with the United States.
He said deal allows the chance to “develop a new pattern of friendly co-operation with the EU, a special relationship if you will, between sovereign equals”.
The Cabinet Secretary said the agreement can allow Britain to move on from the divisions of the last four and a half years.
“I won’t deny it’s been difficult. Friendships have been strained, families were divided and our politics has been rancorous and, at times, ugly,” he writes.
“Through the last four years, as a politician at the centre of this debate, I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes or misjudgments, seen old friendships crumble and those closest to me have to endure pressures they never anticipated.”
The £660billion trade deal was finally secured yesterday after four years of bitter wrangling between the UK and EU.
Mr Gove, who led the Leave campaign in 2016 with Boris Johnson, is starting the process of selling the agreement before a Commons vote on Wednesday.
As the deal was agreed last night, the PM hailed “glad tidings of great joy” in a Christmas message.
He received another boost last night as Sir Keir Starmer vowed that Labour would back the deal – meaning it’s likely to sail through the Commons next week.
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier is spending his Christmas Day pouring over the historic Brexit deal.
Barnier today appeared in good spirits as he clutched the whopping 1,246-page binder in Brussels today.
He said “mission accomplished” before making his way into EU headquarters to meet with ambassadors.
Today’s landmark Christmas Day meeting was the first of several EU meetings to sign off on the deal.
The bloc’s chief negotiator and his team were praised by diplomats from each of the 27 EU member states for their “resilience and steadfastness”.
Source: The Sun
