Michael Gove has said he would not mind being dismissed from the Cabinet if Britain votes to Remain in the European Union against his wishes.
In a frank admission the Justice Secretary and co-convener of the Vote Leave campaign said on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that the “most important thing is to make a principled case for Britain leaving the EU”.
“I don't mind if my Cabinet career is over," Mr Gove added.
Last week David Cameron launched an extraordinary attack on his Cabinet colleagues – including Mr Gove – accusing them of telling “total untruths” to “con” the public into voting to leave the EU. The Prime Minister added that the Leave campaigners were “peddling nonsense”.
Speaking on the BBC on Monday, Mr Gove added that the Scottish Parliament would get new powers over immigration if the UK votes to leave the EU. When asked how many people would be allowed to come to Scotland if the UK leaves the EU, Mr Gove said: "It would be for Scotland to decide.
“Because, under any proposals we put forward we believe that a points-based immigration policy, similar to the one that was actually put forward as a model for an independent Scotland by Nicola Sturgeon, would be the right approach.”
It comes as the former Cabinet minister Liam Fox said the “blue-on-blue” attacks will leave “scars” that will last well beyond the EU referendum vote on June 23. Dr Fox added that it was “very unfortunate” there had been attempts to question the “integrity” of politicians in rival camps.
Just last week Amber Rudd, the Energy Secretary, used a live television debate on ITV to deliver a series of scathing comments about Leave campaigner and former London mayor Boris Johnson.
Dr Fox told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I think it's fair enough in a referendum that we will probe one another's views. We can say 'You don't understand the argument', we can say 'You've got your facts wrong'.
“What I think is unacceptable is for people to impugn the motives or the integrity or the honesty of their colleagues.”
He added: “I think that has happened and I think it's very unfortunate because these scars last well beyond the referendum date itself.”
Dr Fox said the ability of the Conservative Party to pull together after the referendum would be determined by “how well we treat one another” during the campaign.
“My advice to everybody is take a deep breath, stick to the issues, don't make personal attacks," the former defence secretary said.
“It's not necessary and in any case it turns the voters off - they want to hear about the substance.”
