Eurosceptic Tory MPs have launched a co-ordinated move to target Michael Gove, one of the leaders of the Leave campaign, and discredit his attempts to defend the government's Chequers proposal.



BuzzFeed News has been told the "Get Gove" strategy was discussed by members of the European Research Group of Brexiteer MPs following the environment secretary's appearance on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

Gove told Marr he backed Chequers as the right plan "for now" and insisted a future government could change the deal after the UK leaves the EU. This enraged ERG members who are determined to force the prime minister to ditch Chequers now.

As one of the Leave campaigners who stayed in the cabinet post-Chequers, Gove is seen by Number 10 as the key weapon in convincing Brexiteer MPs and voters to support its plan. Downing Street believes Leave voters who agreed with Gove during the referendum campaign will listen to his endorsement, and has been using him to lobby MPs behind the scenes.

On Wednesday, three senior Eurosceptic Tory MPs mounted separate public attacks on Gove in an attempt to derail his case for why Leavers should back Chequers. Allies of Gove immediately hit back, telling BuzzFeed News the co-ordinated public criticism was an act of disloyalty and part of a plot that would only harm the Conservative party.

On Wednesday morning, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the ERG, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that there was a "clear inconsistency" in Gove's argument that MPs could support Chequers then attempt to change it at a later date.

Another senior ERG MP, Steve Baker, went further in The Sun, writing that he is "appalled" by the suggestion that the deal could be changed later on. Baker, who resigned as a Brexit minister over the Chequers plan, branded Gove's argument "ridiculous", "ludicrous" and "wrong".

Then, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, former Brexit secretary David Davis, another Leaver who quit the government over Chequers, also offered a withering assessment of Gove. "Michael Gove is a very clever man and sometimes clever men miss the obvious," Davis said.