Leave vote ‘has made UK more welcoming’

MICHAEL Gove yesterday claimed the Brexit referendum vote has strengthened the UK and made it a more welcoming place.

The Environment Secretary told a conference in London that the vote to leave the EU will destroy the identity politics of nationalists.

He also tried to calm the fears of Brexiteers over a potential betrayal, promising that a backstop solution of keeping the UK in the EU’s customs union would be only “temporary”.

The former leader of Vote Leave told the Policy Exchange conference: “Britain has become more welcoming to migration since the Brexit vote, as opinion research has confirmed.

Suggested

“The act of taking back control has allowed British citizens to show that they can be more welcoming to new arrivals if allowed to be, rather than required to be.”

Mr Gove said he did not believe Brexit would lead to Northern Ireland leaving the UK, and suggested support for Scottish independence had fallen. He said: “Brexit has, certainly so far, strengthened unionist currency in our politics, not weakened it.

“Since the vote to leave the European Union in 2016, support for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom has diminished.”

Mr Gove said Theresa May was determined to find the right answer for “delicate” Brexit issues relating to the Northern Ireland border, and that the Government’s Brexit backstop position on the border was there “just in case”.