Michael Gove has said voters will be able to force changes to an EU withdrawal deal at the next election if they do not like it.

The environment secretary’s comments came as prime minister Theresa May won public backing from both wings of the Tory party after securing an agreement with Brussels to start post-Brexit trade negotiations.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Gove said: “The British people will be in control. If the British people dislike the agreement that we have negotiated with the EU, the agreement will allow a future government to diverge.”

He said that after a transition period, the UK would have “full freedom to diverge from EU law on the single market and customs union”.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage predicted that Tory anger at May’s agreement with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker would emerge over the weekend. He told the BBC: “I think that within the next 48 hours you will hear a lot more Conservative voices... saying, actually, they are not happy with what’s happened today.”

Quick Guide Main points of agreement in the Brexit deal Show EU citizens EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the rest of the EU have the right to stay. Rights of their children and those of partners in existing “durable relationships” are also guaranteed.



UK courts will preside over enforcing rights over EU citizens in Britain but can refer unclear cases to the European court of justice for eight years after withdrawal. Irish border The agreement promises to ensure there will be no hard border and to uphold the Belfast agreement.

It makes clear the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, will be leaving the customs union.



It leaves unclear how an open border will be achieved but says in the absence of a later agreement, the UK will ensure “full alignment” with the rules of the customs union and single market that uphold the Good Friday agreement.



However, the concession secured by the DUP is that no new regulatory barriers will be allowed between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK without the permission of Stormont in the interest of upholding the Good Friday agreement. Money There is no figure on how much the UK is expected to pay but the document sets out how the bill will be calculated – expected to be between £35bn and £39bn.



The UK agrees to continue to pay into the EU budget as normal in 2019 and 2020.

It also agrees to pay its liabilities such as pension contributions. Other issues The two sides agreed there would be need for cooperation on nuclear regulation and police and security issues.

There was an agreement to ensure continued availability of products on the market before withdrawal and to minimise disruption for businesses and consumers.

Proposals allowing the European court of justice a role in overseeing EU citizens’ rights in Britain for eight years after Brexit have worried some Tories. Also of concern is a compromise on the Irish border issue which states that if no trade deal is reached, the UK as a whole will maintain “full alignment” with elements of the EU single market and customs union which support the economy of Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement.

Tory former Brexit minister David Jones warned this could “severely handicap” Britain’s ability to enter free trade agreements covering areas such as agriculture with countries outside the EU, including the US.

But justice minister Dominic Raab said the details of how to deal with the issue of the Irish border had still to be worked out in full.

He told BBC 2’s Newsnight: “You can call it strategic ambiguity, you can call it constructive ambiguity... what I am admitting to you, very openly, and honestly, is that we have agreed principles, but that the details still need to be ironed out on this very bespoke set of issues around Northern Ireland which can’t be dealt with properly and responsibly outside of the context of the broader negotiation on customs and trade and all of those other things we have said all along.”