Michael Gove updating MPs on latest round of Brexit talks: 'The EU essentially wants us to obey the rules of their club even though we're no longer members and they want the same access to our fishing grounds as they currently enjoy while restricting our access to their markets..
..It remains difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement while the EU maintains such an ideological approach but we believe that agreement is possible if flexibility is shown. Success depends on the EU recognising the UK is a sovereign equal.'
Asked whether the UK will align with new EU laws on recycling/plastics, Michael Gove replies that 'our plans are in significant areas ahead of where the EU now is, but of course we want to work cooperatively'. Fond memories of Straw Wars. Simpler days.
Gove: 'It is the case we want to have access to all the crimefighting and law enforcement and criminal justice tools the EU has in order to be able to deal with crime. But it's also the case we cannot accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ as a precondition for so doing.'
Michael Gove is asked whether he agrees that the UK's 'world leading' workers rights and environmental standards 'should be maintained in any future trading relationship with the EU'. He replies: 'You betcha, 100% correct.'
Michael Gove is asked if the global economic crisis sparked by coronavirus puts greater responsibility on the EU and UK to secure a deal. He replies: 'There is a very powerful incentive for the EU to put the interests of its members and its citizens ahead of ideology...
...and the EU, as I'd hope a body that takes its internationalist credentials seriously, would recognise it would be a boost not just to its own economy and our economy but to the world economy and global trading system if we were to conclude a deal.'
