THE UK Government has been accused of pursuing “disaster Toryism” after Michael Gove announced that any further talks with the EU on a post-Brexit would be “meaningless”.

The Tory minister blamed the EU for the breakdown in negotiations, saying it “would not engage on all of the outstanding issues”, “refused to discuss legal texts”, and “dropped a reference to intensive talks”.

However, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said he had today told his UK counterpart that: “The EU remains available to intensify talks in London this week, on all subjects, and based on legal texts”.

Gove was apparently made aware of Barnier's announcement while in the Commons. He said: “Even while I have been at the dispatch box it has been reported that there has been a constructive move on the part of the EU and I welcome that.

"Obviously we need to work on the basis of the proposed intensification they propose. And I prefer to look forward in optimism than look back in anger.”

Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest-serving MP, accused Gove of “shamelessly passing the blame” for the talks breaking down on to the EU.

Wishart said: "The extreme approach to Brexit talks adopted by Boris Johnson's government is an act of disaster Toryism.

"At the same time as the EU's chief Brexit negotiator continues to extend his hand and state that the EU remains available to intensify talks, Michael Gove shamelessly continues to pass the blame for the breakdown in talks on to the EU.”

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Speaking earlier in the Commons, Wishart asked: "Whose fault is it? Not his [Gove’s], or his cabal of Tory anti-EU obsessives, it’s all the fault of these Europeans.

“How dare they ask the Tories to stand by what [they] agreed, how dare they ask for a level playing field, and to maintain the integrity of their single market."

Later and outside of the Commons, Wishart went on: “The recent remarks from Michael Gove and Boris Johnson have only confirmed that they are putting the interests of the Tory party first, and gambling with the economic and social interests of Scotland and the UK.

"It’s clear beyond any doubt that only by becoming an independent country can we properly protect Scotland’s interests and our place in Europe.”

In a recent exchange with Jonathan Oates, a LibDem peer, Gove was asked who was included in the “we” used to describe who would prosper under trade on “Autralian terms” with the EU after Brexit.

Oates asked if the “we” referred to businesses, farmers, or the service industry, finishing: “Who does it refer to?”

Gove replied: “The Government.”

Wishart mocked the idea of an “Australia-style” deal, which is essentially a rebranded No-Deal.

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He said: "The 'easiest deal in the history' will now mean the UK leaving on Mongolian terms, and the absolute rubbish we had to listen to, about oven-ready deals and holding all the cards is now just the stuff of grotesque bad jokes."

Wishart has also echoed the First Minister, who this week spoke of “despair” at the Tories’ insistence on inflicting a “completely unnecessary” Brexit shock on the UK in the middle of a pandemic.

Wishart said: “The impact of either a bad deal or No-Deal - coupled with the deep hit to the economy from the coronavirus crisis - risks delivering a severe blow to businesses, jobs and people’s living standards across the UK.

"It's staggering that in the midst of a global pandemic, deep recession, and mass job losses and business closures, the UK Government is telling people to prepare for a No-Deal exit.

“Just this week, over 70 UK business groups - representing more than seven million workers - warned the UK government against its no-deal Brexit threats. Yet the UK government carries on regardless.”