European Interest

‘Chequers approach right one for now’

Flickr/EU2017EE Estonian Presidency/CC BY 2.0
British Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said that Theresa May’s strategy agreed at chequers in July is the right plan “for now”.

British Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said that Theresa May’s strategy agreed at chequers in July is the right plan “for now”.

In an interview with the BBC, Gove said: “But the Chequers approach is the right one for now because we have got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the European Union”.

However, Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader and a leading campaigner for Brexit, disagreed with Gove. He described his idea as “one of the worst ways of dealing with the negotiations”.

“We have to seize what we want now,” he said. “That’s what people voted for. That’s what Brexit is about, leaving with the right deal.

“And the prime minister, at the same time, has got to recognise that there is an alternative [to the Chequers deal], called the WTO [World Trade Organisation].”

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