Britain's justice secretary has accused David Cameron of running a "depressing" referendum campaign based on scaremongering about the risks involved in leaving the European Union.
Michael Gove, who now leads the Vote Leave campaign, was speaking Friday night during an hour-long question and answer session on Sky News, the same format as the prime minister's a day earlier.
“Last night I’m afraid what we heard was depressing and it was an attempt to scare you into not following through what you know in your heart to be right. If we in the future have confidence in ourselves then there’s no limit to what we can achieve and I think the depressing litany . . . that we hear from the remain side is not the type of approach we should take into the future,” he said.
During a preliminary interview with Sky News political editor Faisal Islam, Mr Gove was unable to name a single economic institute or the leader of one of Britain's allies that backs Brexit. And he declined to deny that jobs would be lost if Britain leaves the EU.
Skilled debater
As a skilled debater, however, Mr Gove successfully turned hostile questions to his advantage, as he did when Mr Islam pointed out that he had supported the
Iraq
war.
“They can point out that I may have called the Iraq war wrong, but I’m very happy to acknowledge my mistake then. It’s the invincible arrogance of the European elites that gets me . . . do they ever acknowledge they need to change? No. I think it’s time we said to people who are incapable of acknowledging they ever get anything wrong . . . I’m afraid it’s time to say you’re fired, let’s take back control,” he said.
Mr Gove made a more positive case for leaving the EU than many in the Leave campaign, arguing that a vote to leave was an expression of confidence in Britain’s future.
He suggested that, by ending uncontrolled immigration from within the EU, Britain could accept more immigrants from Commonwealth countries. And he suggested the Remain campaign was talking the country down.
“They’re saying that Britain is too small, too poor and we’re all too stupid to be able to succeed on the outside. I comprehensively reject that,” he said.
As other Leave campaigners, including Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, tweeted praise for Mr Gove's performance, the justice secretary insisted that he had no ambition to become prime minister.
His calm performance, at once cerebral and self-deprecatingly funny, will undoubtedly enhance his reputation, however.
Mr Gove faced a less hostile audience than the prime minister did the previous evening, although he received an equally harsh mauling from Mr Islam.
The justice secretary offered little by way of factual answers to questions surrounding the consequences of leaving the EU, but he ended on an uplifting note, urging his fellow citizens to shut their eyes and hope for the best.
“I think instead of the pessimism of the Remain campaign we have an opportunity to think of the next generation. If we have faith in their talent, in their generosity, in their hard work we can, if we leave the EU, ensure the next generation makes this country once more truly great,” he said.
