Michael Gove opens his Brexit Committee appearance with a line he might regret when it comes to appearing before parliament in between EU negotiation rounds: "I’m at parliament’s disposal."
Gove refuses to say whether the draft FTA the UK will put to the EU will be made public.
Gove says the UK will not produce an impact assessment of a proposed deal with the EU - the way the govt did for the US. He says other organisations will have the opportunity to give their sense of the impact.
Implicit criticism of DIT and Liz Truss here for publishing the US impact assessment. Gove says it's wrong to be tied to one view of a course of action.
Gove says there is "no reason" why deals with the EU and a deal with the US cannot be done during 2020.
Gove says the impact of coronavirus on Brexit is a "live issue". He suggests Brussels has questioned whether the planned Joint Committee meeting on 30th can go ahead. He insists the Brexit transition period will not be extended
Gove insists the UK is not walking back from the Political Declaration when it comes to level playing field agreements.
The food analogies continue: Labour MP Stephen Kinnock says the UK deal was not "oven ready" but at the back of the freezer. Gove says frozen meals can be put in oven from frozen. He says UK deal is like Marks & Spencer packages with starter, main & pudding for £9.99. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gove leaves the door open to some aspects of a deal being negotiated beyond the transition period. Seems to suggest security could be one of those things.
Gove clarifies this. Says there is a possibility negotiations over internal security might not be finished by the end of the transition period.
