Michael Gove labelled as ‘deranged relative’ for wanting to take Britain out of EU
Labour's Tristram Hunt will deliver a scathing attack on the Justice Secretary
MICHAEL Gove is behaving like a "deranged relative pouring petrol on a fire" in his desire to pull Britain out of the EU, according to Labour’s Tristram Hunt.
The MP - a professional historian before entering the Commons - will warn Brexit "would be an entirely self-defeating dereliction of our duty and history".
Britain had been at its most effective over centuries when leading European alliances and should not choose a moment when the continent faced severe crises to abandon ties, he will suggest in a speech today.
He will say: "Europe is facing Russian militarism for the first time since the Cold War.
“Fascism, red in tooth and claw, for the first time since the fall of Franco.
"Brexit as Gove and his ilk see it is not a 'liberation movement' for the people of Europe - it is the act of a deranged relative pouring petrol over an already smouldering fire.
"To walk away from Europe now, in its latest hour of need, would be an entirely self-defeating dereliction of our duty and history."
He will tell the European Council of Foreign Relations: "Whether it is our military, our diplomatic corps, our language, or our BBC, Britain's history and traditions all point towards a country that takes an active role in the world.
"An outward looking nation at ease with its status as a bastion of western, liberal, democratic ideals.
"This is what many voices in the Vote Leave campaign completely fail to understand. They say, 'Let the world take care of itself'.
“But the modern world simply doesn't allow for such detachment.
"Even at the supposed high points of our glorious past, Britain was deeply enmeshed in continental alliances.
"Victory at the Battle of Waterloo was the product of a British-Prussian-Dutch-Swedish-Russian alliance.
"When Salisbury was accused of pursuing a policy of 'splendid isolation' in the late 19th century, the British government was, in fact, firmly committed to various European partnerships.
"The argument coming from the heart of Vote Leave is the politics of defeat and the philosophy of decline.
"Britain shouldn't be leaving Europe. Britain should be leading Europe. Reshaping our continent's destiny towards a more open, liberal, democratic, freer, fairer, stronger and more socially just future."
Mr Hunt, who shadowed the Tory when he served as education secretary, will say: "Michael Gove seems to believe that applying the 'creative destruction' logic of his school reforms to an entire continent is somehow an act of great liberal statesmanship.
"I could not disagree more. In fact, I think it indicates a chilling lack of judgment."