Gove: I’ll delay leaving the EU... as long as it gets us a better deal

Cabinet heavyweight sets out his leadership vision

MICHAEL Gove today warns that Boris Johnson’s stance on Brexit could plunge the Conservatives into a chaotic election this autumn.

Firing his opening salvo in the Tory leadership campaign, the Environment Secretary warns that candidates pledging to leave the EU in October ‘come what may’ risk a clash with Parliament that could put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Gove sets out his alternative Brexit plan and says he would be willing to sanction a short delay to allow ‘a little extra time’ if a deal is close.

Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey have all pledged to leave the EU by October 31, with or without a deal. Mr Gove today says he would ‘like us out earlier’ if possible.

But he writes: ‘If we make the progress I know we can and we are on the cusp of a better deal which works for us, would it really be

‘Risk the future of our Union’

in the best interests of our country to opt for a No Deal exit when just a little more time and effort could make all the difference?

‘Also, saying that we would leave come what may when there is still progress to be made, runs the risk of Parliament forcing us into a general election before Brexit is secured. That would hand Downing Street to a Jeremy Corbyn government propped up by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.

‘That would mean we lost Brexit altogether, risked the future of our Union, and handed the levers of power to a Marxist.’

As the leadership campaign got into full swing:

Jeremy Hunt discussed his plans for Downing Street with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron in the margins of the D-Day commemorations, with the German chancellor telling him: ‘Good luck, if that’s the right word’;

Mr Raab refused to rule out suspending Parliament this autumn to prevent MPs blocking No Deal if that was the only way to ensure the UK left on time;

Esther McVey said she would sack all Cabinet Remainers to form a top team ‘that believes in Brexit’;

Tory polling expert Lord Hayward warned that Mr Johnson was a ‘Marmite politician’ who could drive away almost a quarter of the floating voters who backed the Conservatives in 2017;

Former Brexit minister Steve Baker pledged to stand for the top job unless leading candidates accepted that No Deal was now the only option;

Official figures revealed that the UK’s contribution to the EU budget is set to rise by £1billion to £13.6billion next year;

Donald Trump sparked uproar in Ireland by describing the border with the North as a ‘wall’ and likening it to the border between the US and Mexico.

Mr Gove’s plan for Brexit focuses on a renewed effort to resolve the problem of the Northern Irish border, which wrecked Theresa May’s deal. But he would push for a looser ‘Canada- style’ free trade deal, rather than the complex customs arrangement devised by Mrs May.

On Ireland, he would try to secure a so-called ‘Stormont lock’ to be enshrined in international law.

That would mean that regulations in Northern Ireland would have to stay in lock-step with those in the rest of the UK.

Mr Gove also pledges to shake up Brexit negotiations by appointing a ‘ Conservative, politician- led’ team, rather than civil servants, to take on Brussels.

Mrs May tried and failed to persuade the EU to budge on the backstop earlier this year after MPs rejected her deal by huge margins in three votes. The terms of the latest Brexit extension specifically rule out reopening the withdrawal agreement with the EU.

But Mr Gove claims circumstances have changed and European leaders ‘want to find a way through this’. Former farming minister George Eustice, who is backing Mr Gove, said a Brexit delay would last no more than a few months.

Emerging from a hustings for Tory MPs at which Mr Gove laid out his plans last night, Mr Eustice said: ‘We are not going to flounce off over a few months.’

Mr Gove’s campaign yesterday received a boost, with the endorsement of ministers Claire Perry and Anne Milton, who oppose No Deal.

Rival candidate Rory Stewart echoed the warning against guaranteeing a hard exit on October 31.

He told the BBC that candidates pledging to get a new treaty by then were ‘misleading themselves and misleading others’.

‘Anyone who knows anything about Europe can assure you there is not the slightest hope of getting a new deal through Europe by October 31. Not a hope.’

Mr Gove suffered a setback when a promised meeting with Donald Trump failed to materialise.

Mr Trump held talks with Mr Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. But Mr Gove yesterday acknowledged he had managed only ‘a few words’ during a state banquet.