BREXIT has led to Britain adopting one of the "warmest" attitudes in the EU towards migration, Michael Gove has said, as he also claimed that the withdrawal process had strengthened Unionism.
The Environment Secretary said: “The act of taking back to control has allowed British citizens to show they can be more welcoming to new arrivals if allowed to be rather than required to be. Now Britain is one of those EU nations with the warmest attitude towards migration, mirroring the attitudes in sister countries across the globe such as Canada and New Zealand.”
Speaking in London at the Policy Exchange’s conference on the Union, the Scot also argued: "Brexit has, certainly so far, strengthened Unionist currency in our politics, not weakened it.
"Since the vote to leave the European Union in 2016, support for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom has diminished," he declared.
Mr Gove also insisted Theresa May was absolutely determined to find the right answer for "delicate" Brexit issues relating to the Northern Irish border.
Meanwhile in a speech on science at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, the Prime Minister confirmed the UK was willing to pay to maintain access to the Euratom, the European nuclear research programme, as well as other science projects after Brexit.
She explained maintaining "a deep science partnership" with the EU after the UK left in 2019 was in the interests of both Britain and the trading bloc.
"The United Kingdom would like the option to fully associate ourselves with the excellence-based European science and innovation programme, including the successor to Horizon 2020 and Euratom R&T. It is in the mutual interest of the UK and the EU that we should do so.
"Of course, such as association would involve an appropriate UK financial contribution, which we would willingly make. In return, we would look to maintain a suitable level of influence in line with that contribution and the benefits we bring.
"The UK is ready to discuss these details with the Commission as soon as possible," stressed Mrs May.
She also pledged that the UK would remain open to foreign students after Brexit, saying that "science is an international enterprise and discoveries know no borders".
The PM told reporters that the Government still wished to be part of Galileo, the EU's global satellite navigation system.
"We are very clear that if we are not able to participate in that in a way which means we are a full part of that programme - if there are restrictions placed on us - then we will be setting up our own programme.
"We have already started that work alongside our discussions with the European Union. So we are clear if it is necessary we will do it ourselves but we are still interested in talking to the European Union about being a full member of the Galileo programme," she added.
In other developments:
*Mr Gove said the Brexit backstop position on the Northern Ireland border was “intended not to be implemented but it's there just in case";
*Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said Dublin's "very aggressive" Brexit stance had left Unionists wondering if it was an attempt to claim Northern Ireland and
*Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, promised to seek the best Brexit deal for the region after meetings with businesses about the Irish border.
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