Michael Gove believes Theresa May’s can make a comeback similar to Manchester United’s recent Champions League victory over Paris Saint Germain in tonight’s Brexit vote.
The Red Devils recently defeated the French side 3-1 in a second leg round of 16 tie after being 2-0 down from the first game – in a historic win that nobody expected of them.
Mr Gove said Mrs May, whose Brexit deal is widely predicted to fail again this evening, has succeeded in getting what the Commons wants on the Irish backstop and can pull off a similar surprise victory.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today, he said: “You say as of this moment we’ve failed.
“Before Manchester United played Paris Saint Germain you would have said at that point they hadn’t actually won. But they did!"
Continuing on this, he reiterated that tonight's vote is not as predictable as it might seem.
“The point is don’t pre-empt the judgement of the House of Commons tonight," he said.
“Theresa May has not failed she has succeeded in doing in what the House of Commons asked her to do, which is to secure an amendment to the withdrawal agreement.”
The Environment Secretary Michael Gove added it was "make your mind up time" for MPs on the "new, improved deal".
He said: "We have an improvement on the Withdrawal Agreement that was presented to the House of Commons in January. That improvement ensures that we have additional legal weight behind our position.
"It also ensures that, as in any agreement or any contract, if it is the case that one side - in this case the EU - seeks to act in a way that is not in accordance with their commitments then we can go to court and we can win.
"We have also made a declaration as a nation that, should the EU behave in that way, that is exactly what we will do."
Defending the new documents, he said the declaration of intent has "political and legal standing”.
He rejected the idea the deal could result in Brexit being "delayed or diluted", in a message aimed at Tory Eurosceptics.
