Brexit is Distracting Us From Our Domestic Agenda - UK Finance Minister

UK Environment Minister Michael Gove accused Finance Minister Philip Hammond of not preparing the country for Brexit without an agreement on the terms of the upcoming "divorce" between London and Brussels, The Daily Telegraph reported late on 20 February, citing its own sources.

UK Finance Minister Philip Hammond has stated that Brexit is distracting "all of us from getting on with the domestic agenda".

He went on to say that UK lawmakers could be able to vote on an updated withdrawal deal next week.

"There may be an opportunity to bring a vote back to the House of Commons — there may be an opportunity, but that will depend on the progress that is made in the next few days", Hammond noted.

Earlier, The Daily Telegraph reported that during a heated debate at a 20 February meeting of one of the Cabinet's subcommittees, UK Environment Minister Michael Gove, who was one of the leaders of the Euro-skeptic campaign during the 2016 referendum on the country's membership in the EU, said that Hammond did not allocate financial resources on time to prepare for no-deal withdrawal, which made the preparation more difficult.

READ MORE: UKIP MEP: What We Have in Terms of Theresa May Deal on the Table, Is Not Brexit

He also reportedly said that Her Majesty's Passport Office and HM Revenue & Customs should make more efforts to help British companies in preparing for the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, and also advocated that such a scenario should guarantee the delivery of the required volume of medicine and food to the United Kingdom via a ferry linking the UK with the countries of continental Europe.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Gove and Hammond, who advocates the maximum European integration of the country and is an open opponent of the idea of leaving the EU without an agreement on Brexit conditions, are "at loggerheads" in connection with the question of imposing duties on imported agricultural products in the event of a no-deal Brexit.