Ex-footballer John Barnes slams Michael Gove for wrongly claiming he backs Brexit
Former England footballer John Barnes has hit out at the justice secretary and leading Leave campaigner Michael Gove for wrongly claiming he backs Brexit.
Barnes said his views had been misconstrued after he said in an interview that Brexit would be good for English footballers. Gove previously claimed that the ex-Three Lions player wanted Britain to leave the EU on 23 June.
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"How this happened was I gave an interview stating that for English football it would be better off being out of the EU because of course we couldn't get all of these European players coming in as easily, so it would be better for English footballers," he told Sky News.
"I got a call the very next day, this is about a month ago, saying, 'Oh thank you very much for your support' – and I made it categorically clear that speaking from the point of view of English footballers, it would be better off, but I don't support the Leave campaign because that's a very selfish view of me looking just at English football.
"I've got to think about what I think is right for the country. I made it plain that I do not support them, I support Remain."