TORIES ROCKED BY SWINGING SCANDAL
Cabinet stunned by Gove’s XXX claim
MICHAEL Gove told Cabinet colleagues hardline Eurosceptics like Jacob Rees-Mogg are like “swingers” at an orgy “waiting for Scarlett Johannson to turn up”!
The bizarre barb from the Environment Secretary came as Cabinet met to discuss the prospects of Theresa May’s Brexit deal getting through the Commons next week.
The PM is scrambling to win over mutinous MPs as she faces a disastrous defeat, but ministers have been going all-out to make clear to critics that
killing off the package will not result in their ideal vision of Brexit – as some Tories hope.
At Cabinet yesterday, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd warned that history would take a “dim view” if the government allowed the UK to leave with no deal, saying the country would be less safe.
Ms Rudd insisted politicians that had to accept the world “as we find it, not as we wish it to be”.
She was backed by Mr Gove who compared Brexiteers who are refusing the accept the Withdrawal Agreement – such as Jacob ReesMogg – to over-picky swingers who were waiting for the perfect partner to arrive at a party.
Responding to Mr Gove’s reference to the Hollywood actress, Ms Rudd quipped that some MPs might be waiting for Pierce Brosnan.
Justice Secretary David Gauke, who has condemned wishful thinking by Brexiteers, waded in to say that Labour seemed to be holding out for Scarlett Johannson “on a unicorn”.
Jeremy Corbyn has said he wants the UK to be in a customs union but able to strike trade deals elsewhere – something Brussels has flatly rejected.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid is also said to have spoken negatively about the consequences of no deal, suggesting the government’s ability to tackle illegal immigration might be reduced.
With the prospect of Mrs May’s plan passing the Commons looking remote, opponents are pushing their own visions of how to proceed.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory former education secretary Nicky Morgan have yesterdaay tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill designed to make it harder for the government to press ahead with no deal.
The change would effectively limit the Treasury’s tax-raising powers, making it more difficult to respond to any disruption from leaving the EU without a deal in place.