Secretary of State for Environment, Michael Gove leaving Downing Street following a Brexit Cabinet meeting. He has reportedly demanded an end to the Working Time Directive operating in the UK during EU membership – meaning the loss of many workers’ rights.

Isn’t the Tory government supposed to be going forward to a trade deal, united in common purpose?

That doesn’t seem likely to This Writer.

Jeremy Corbyn said about the government, earlier this week, “It is division and in-fighting in her own Cabinet and their reliance on the DUP that makes them weak.”

That rings true.

Mr Corbyn also said: “We have already seen Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet… give the impression that the agreement [struck earlier in December – two months late] can be changed or ignored.”

And he said: “There were also worrying reports over the weekend about what some senior Cabinet Ministers will demand from the Prime Minister to support a phase one deal.”

It seems clear that, with Cabinet ministers pushing and pulling in all directions, the Tories still – years since announcing that they would hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EU or leave it – don’t know what they want from Brexit.

But they are determined to be the ones negotiating it. This can only end in disaster for the UK.

The ministers most closely involved with Brexit talks began discussing options for the future UK-EU relationship in a Downing Street meeting which lasted about 90 minutes.

Brexiteers Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox, alongside Gavin Williamson, who backed Remain in the referendum, were understood to be vocal on the need to “diverge” from EU regulations.

It is believed soft Brexit backers such as Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd leaned further towards “alignment” with Brussels rules to maintain close ties with the EU in the future.

Ministers did not agree a position but there was discussion of the potential for “gradual divergence” – a step-by-step move away from EU laws after Brexit and the conclusion of a subsequent implementation period in 2021.

Source: Ministers clash in Brexit war cabinet | Latest Brexit news and top stories – The New European

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