This afternoon in the Future Relationship Select Committee, Michael Gove explained that he thinks the negotiations are going as well as expected, the UK is committed to its original deadline, and that all UK proposals are based on the precedents of what the EU has agreed in its FTAs with countries like Canada and Japan. Because Britain is now a sovereign country…

He did, however, acknowledge significant disagreements, particularly regarding the EU’s demands on level playing field provisions. Gove explained that he thinks the EU position is borne of a “difference in philosophy” and that the EU is viewing the UK as an associate state rather than as an independent nation. Tough talk…