Michael Gove has 'no bregrets' as Brexiteer forced to deny betrayal at secret summit

Michael Gove was forced to deny claims of Brexit betrayal after attending a secret summit to discuss its “failings”.

Sources say the Levelling Up Secretary blamed “embittered Remainers” for a hostile briefing that suggested he was having doubts.

Allies said that while Gove defends his Leave vote, he was “honest” about its flaws.

The group met at Ditchley Park, a historic estate near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, to discuss “how can we make Brexit work better with our neighbours in Europe?”

Eurosceptics have raised suspicions that the conversations will be used to lobby Rishi Sunak or any future Labour administration for closer ties with Brussels.

Lord Frost has warned that the secret summit will be used to undermine Brexit
Jonathan Brady

Ex-Cabinet Minister Sir John Redwood tweeted: “Every time the UK makes concessions to the EU they see it as weakness and treat us like a wayward dependent state. Time for the UK to show some independent spirit.

“Instead of talking of selling out at private conferences, the UK establishment needs to complete Brexit and use its freedoms.”

However, Gove’s allies insisted that he holds no regrets over Brexit.

“This seems like a sad attempt by embittered Remainers to try and undermine Brexit,” they told the Sun.

“Michael has no ‘bregrets’ and set out the massive opportunities we can seize now we are no longer chained to the EU.”

Among those at last week’s country house meeting were Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, ex-Tory European minister David Lidington and Theresa May’s Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins.

Labour has also downplayed the meet up as Keir Starmer tries to convince voters he will not betray Brexit.

A party spokesman said the summit was a “bog standard Ditchley Park conference” where politicians across parties gather for discussions.

Unionists and Brexiteers are already concerned that the Prime Minister will offer major concessions in a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol - which could give the European Court of Justice a continuing role in ruling on trade in the province.

Labour also downplayed the summit to discuss EU relations
House of Commons

It follows stir that Remain-backing Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was said to have been behind briefings that the Government wanted a closer, Swiss-style relationship with the EU.

However, Rishi Sunak has insisted he will not pursue any deal “that relies on alignment with EU laws”.

Lord Frost, who was chief negotiator for the withdrawal agreement that took effect three years ago, told the DailyMail: “This secret conference is a further piece of evidence that many in our political and business establishment want to unravel the deals we did to exit the EU in 2020 and to stay shadowing the EU instead.

"That’s why so many of those responsible for Theresa May’s failed backstop deal were there, while I and those who actually delivered the Brexit agreements were not.

"Brexit doesn’t need 'fixing'. It needs this Conservative Government, elected with a huge mandate on a Brexit programme, to fully and enthusiastically embrace its advantages instead of leaving the field to those who never wanted it in the first place."