Gove likens Brexit to moving house

Business leaders fear they will be blamed for any disruption to trade as minister talks of ‘upgrade’

MICHAEL GOVE has compared Brexit to moving house, as he told business leaders “it’s a hassle at first, but you are upgrading”.

On a 20-minute conference call with trade bodies and bosses from 250 leading companies, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister Boris

Johnson warned UK firms to prepare for a possible no-deal outcome to talks with the European Union.

Mr Gove said Brexit was “like moving house: it’s a hassle at first, but you are upgrading”.

The call reportedly did not go down well, with one business source describing it as “anodyne” while another said it was “shocking, embarrassing and not c onstructive”. Some c ompanies expressed fears that the Government would seek to blame any disruption to trade on their failure to prepare.

One person on the call said: “Boris was sympathetic to concerns of business, but made it clear we are leaving, come what may, and there will be no negotiation after Jan 1, and it is critically important business gets on with that.”

The call was “not bad tempered, there was no opportunity for it to be bad tempered”, said one person on it, adding that the event “was carefully stagemanaged. Just three obviously preselected questions were taken”.

Another source said: “It felt like an exercise so the Government can say it has formally talked to business.”

No 10 said Mr Johnson told firms this “should be a moment of change and dynamism for the UK, providing businesses with fantastic opportunities”.

Most of Britain’s business chiefs and lobby groups either privately or publicly backed Remain, with some subsequently accused of refusing to accept the referendum result.

The latest move came as sources in Brussels and the UK said that Michel Barnier could be i n London f or rebooted Brexit negotiations tomorrow amid cautious optimism that a freetrade agreement can still be struck.

The EU’S chief negotiator tried to convince David Frost to return to the negotiating table yesterday after Mr Johnson declared negotiations “over” last Friday.

If Mr Barnier was to visit London it would be the most tangible signal since last week that there could still be a deal between the UK and EU.

After video conference talks with

Lord Frost, Mr Barnier tweeted: “We should be making the most out of the little time left. Our door remains open.”

A No 10 spokesman said that the two men had a “constructive discussion” and would stay in touch.

The trade talks – which stalled on fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the deal’s enforcement – were still on ice, he said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister suffered a defeat and Tory peer rebellion in the House of Lords over the Internal Market Bill.

The loss sets the scene for the likelihood of protracted parliamentary “ping pong”, when l egislation i s passed between the two Houses.