Following Michael Gove's promise to leave the Single Market at the same time as exiting the EU, ASI Fellow Roland Smith made the following statement:

Michael Gove’s call to exit the Single Market at the same time as Britain leaves the European Union is interesting, flawed, but ultimately irrelevant. From 24th June, the EU issue will move back into normal Westminster politics with all its associated dynamics and parliamentary arithmetic.

A governing Remain-centric Conservative Party with a small majority sitting in an overwhelmingly Remain-centric House of Commons will not allow the Gove path to be taken. Because while it will be a combination of Leavers and Remainers who decide next steps after the electorate’s instruction to leave, Remainers will have the greater numbers. All of that remains true even if a Leaver takes over the Conservative leadership.

Gove therefore has zero chance of getting a Single Market pullout past his own governing party, never mind the House of Commons. That means the only realistic exit option is to step back to the EEA, as outlined in a recent Adam Smith Institute paper. A move that will itself unleash dynamics in Europe that give EEA and non-Euro countries a much better settlement vis-à-vis the Eurozone.

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Flora Laven-Morris, Head of Communications, at flora@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207