'He's turned WEAK!' Fishing boss claims Michael Gove has been BRAINWASHED by Theresa May

Ms Mummery, the owner of BFP Eastern and vice chairman of Lowestoft Fish Market Alliance, hit out the Brexiteer frontbencher insisting he has “turned weak” after he announced his support for the Prime Minister’s Chequers proposal, which appears to be a firm push towards a soft Brexit.

Michael Gove claimed on Sunday that Chequers would not be “permanent” and another Prime Minister could decide to change it.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Ms Mummery said: “I have a lot of respect for Michael Gove to start with. But where is he? He’s turned weak.

“I’ve written to him. I liked him a great deal. I wanted him as the Prime Minister but now I feel as if he has been brainwashed.

“I don’t know what it is. They seem to be all for it to start with and then, bang, something happened.

“Boris, I think he’d make a better job of it.”

The Brexiteer added: “I’ve got Brandon Lewis in Great Yarmouth. That’s nine miles up the road from Lowestoft. He has to think of his town and area. Thérèse Coffey, she’s another one.

“How can you turn your back on your people?”

Brexiteer frontbencher Michael Gove claimed the Chequers deal could be changed sometime in the future even if Parliament votes to approve it.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Gove signalled that the latest Brexit blueprint would work “for now” and refused to confirm whether it would be “permanent”

The Tory frontbencher defended his response, saying: “No, I think it’s the right answer. A future Prime Minister could always choose to alter the relationship between Britain and the European Union but the Chequers approach is the right one for now.

“I think it’s the right solution for this country, to leave the European Union on the basis of what we’ve negotiated and I think it’s absolutely right because we would be outside the single market, we would be outside the customs union, we would be outside the Common Agricultural Policy and outside the Common Fisheries Policy.”

Theresa May has been facing mounting pressure from Tory and Labour MPs to abandon her proposal and seek an alternative, which would meet the demands of Leave voters across the country.

Mr Gove insisted the Government must “respect the vote” to embrace the opportunities independence from the EU offers to Britain.

He continued: “We’ve got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside of the European Union.

“This week, as Environment Secretary, I had the opportunity to explain in detail how we can enhance our environment and improve food production outside the European Union on the basis of the deal that the Prime Minister has put forward.”

He added: “Now, the responsibility is on the European Union because we have shown flexibility. We need to put the focus on them.”

Mrs May’s Brexit plan, calling for close regulatory alignment with the EU’s single market for British exports, is a firm push towards a soft Brexit.

The proposal includes plans to create a ”common rule book” – involving a free trade area with the EU on industrial and agricultural goods.

The Prime Minister faced a string of resignations since the release of her Chequers plan – including the resignation of former Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen ridiculed the Chequers plan and said it is a “surrender document” to the EU.

Mr Bridgen warned that the Prime Minister is now “so weak” that she “actually just moves in the last direction of someone that kicked her”.