Michael Gove has said he doesn’t think the government should apologise for what it has done, even after the Supreme Court ruled its actions unlawful in the strongest possible terms.
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told the BBC: “I don’t think that the government should apologise for having a strong domestic agenda, I don’t think we should apologise also for seeking to advance our exit from the European Union.
“I don’t think the government should apologise also for saying that we are attempting to honour the democratic will of the British people.”
This was in marked contrast to the government’s earlier claims that the prorogation was purely about having a Queen’s speech to announce domestic policies.
Supreme Court justices found unanimously that prorogation was done in order to frustrate the will of parliament – which resists the Conservative government’s Brexit plans.
The Court found that there was “no reasonable justification” for the prorogation in these circumstances.
The ruling has prompted calls for the prime minister to resign while hard Brexiteers have reacted bullishly.
MORE: 43% of the UK thinks Boris Johnson should step down after Supreme Court rulingWATCH: Andrew Bridgen calls Supreme Court ruling ‘worst possible outcome for democracy’Talking to Sky News, Gove acknowledged there had been “heated responses” to the ruling, although he said he did not recognise reports that Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg branded the court’s actions a “constitutional coup”.
He said: “There have been some heated responses from various people but I think the appropriate thing is to pause and reflect on this judgment but also to recognise it is vitally important now parliament is reconvening to get on with the job of delivering Brexit.”
He said the position shared by all ministers is that “we respectfully disagree with the reasoning behind this judgement”.
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