'Appearing before the Future Relationship with the European Committee the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was questioned by Labour MP Stephen Kinnock on how many civil servants working on Brexit had been redrafted to help with the Covid-19 outbreak.
Gove said that it was a “significant number... I think it is probably fair to say it is just shy of 100.”
Kinnock suggested such a figure will have a “massive impact” on the “capacity to complete the talks by the 1st of July” without applying for an extension.
But whilst Gove admitted it was a large number, he was unmoved by the suggestion. He said that specialists from other Whitehall departments were being moved to help with Brexit.'