Gove blasts Remainers
MICHAEL Gove blasted Remainers yesterday for defying the will of the people as he urged Conservatives to be inspired by the way Margaret Thatcher restored Britain to global greatness.
The leading Leave campaigner also insisted that once the UK is free of the European Union’s “handcuffs” it must never again surrender its independence.
In his keynote speech to the Tory party conference in Manchester, Mr Gove attacked politicians returning to the political frontline “with a message that, in their absence, the public have got it wrong”.
He said: “When Tony Blair or Vince Cable tell us that the referendum decision to leave the EU must be overturned, that the votes of 17.4 million people should be disregarded, that we should exit from Brexit and stay in the EU, then I feel it’s time to stand up for something special to us all, something that defines us as a nation – democracy.
“So let’s send a clear message – we’re leaving, we’re taking back control, we’re going to make a success of life outside the EU.”
The Environment Secretary added: “EU law binds our hands, but we will be free of those handcuffs by the next election. Let us pledge to use that freedom wisely, let us also be determined never again to give that freedom away.”
Mr Gove hailed Tory Prime Ministers Baroness Thatcher, Benjamin Disraeli and US President Theodore Roosevelt for reviving their countries’ world stature in the face of the challenges and pessimism of their times.
Conservatives should emulate the trio by showing “that it is through the democratic vitality of nation states that we can show the leadership necessary to build a better future for the next generation”, he said.
Brexit would free Britain to decide its laws to make it “cleaner, greener and more beautiful”, he added.