Britain wants successful trade talks, EU not always constructive – Gove

Britain wants trade negotiations with the European Union to succeed and is not walking away from talks, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said on Monday, as the government tabled a bill designed to break the Brexit divorce agreement.

“What this bill is not doing, is not walking away from negotiations with the European Union … We’re committed to making a success of these negotiations,” Gove told lawmakers.

Senior British minister Michael Gove accused the European Union of not always being constructive in talks over post-Brexit trade relations, as he urged legislators to back a government bill that would breach the divorce deal between London and Brussels.

“The EU has not always been the constructive partner that all of us might have hoped,” Gove said in closing remarks at the end of a House of Commons debate on the controversial Internal Market bill.

“We were told that we would get a Canada deal. That’s not on the table,” said Gove, adding that on the disputed subject of fisheries the EU stance amounted to wanting rights to fish in UK waters just like before Brexit.