LONDON (Reuters) – Senior British minister Michael Gove accused the European Union of not always being constructive in talks over post-Brexit trade relations, as he urged legislators to back a government bill that would breach the divorce deal between London and Brussels.

“The EU has not always been the constructive partner that all of us might have hoped,” Gove said in closing remarks at the end of a House of Commons debate on the controversial Internal Market bill.

“We were told that we would get a Canada deal. That’s not on the table,” said Gove, adding that on the disputed subject of fisheries the EU stance amounted to wanting rights to fish in UK waters just like before Brexit.

(Reporting Guy Faulconbridge and Estelle Shirbon. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)

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