The international trade secretary, Liam Fox, has caused a fresh cabinet rift over immigration by insisting that the continuation of free movement after 2019 would “not keep faith” with the referendum result.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Fox dismissed claims that the cabinet had reached a consensus that free movement of people for up to three years after Britain leaves the EU will be part of a Brexit transition deal. “If there have been discussions on that, I have not been party to them,” he said. “I have not been involved in any discussion on that, nor have I signified my agreement to anything like that.”
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, confirmed on Friday that free movement would end in name only in 2019
