Michael Gove

Michael Gove has insisted people will “make their own judgment” on Dominic Cummings’ evidence, as he sidestepped questions over the credibility of his former aide. The Cabinet Office minister was challenged by Labour to give his personal opinion on allegations levelled against the Government by Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser. Speaking in the Commons, Labour […]

UK ministers have a “shocking” lack of knowledge about the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland following Brexit, MPs have heard. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee joined together with the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh affairs committees to hear evidence on the Government’s union capability. Appearing as witnesses were Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove […]

Records of David Cameron’s intense lobbying efforts for Greensill Capital have been released to reveal text messages he sent chancellor Rishi Sunak and senior cabinet minister Michael Gove. The Conservative former prime minister also sent messages to vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi during the pandemic as he sought to gain access for Greensill to government-backed coronavirus […]

Michael Gove has refused to rule out suing Nicola Sturgeon’s government if it tries to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, in a briefing with journalists. The cabinet minister avoided answering the question when probed twice by reporters. Asked if he would take Sturgeon to court over her proposals to hold a new vote, Gove […]

A senior government minister has told the SNP it cannot expect a second referendum to be approved after failing to secure a majority in the Scottish Parliament elections. The SNP fell one seat short of an overall majority during the Super Thursday elections, securing 64 seats in Holyrood. However, the final result still means that […]

TIM WALKER on Michael Gove’s reverse Midas touch. Michael Gove – the man who assured British fishermen that Brexit would make them rich – appears not to have lost his reverse Midas touch. Since joining the board of trustees of Dorneywood, Rishi Sunak’s grace and favour country retreat in Buckinghamshire, the value of its investments has plummeted […]

Michael Gove’s wife has come to the defence of Boris Johnson over allegations surrounding his flat refurbishment, by claiming that he “can’t be expected to live in a skip”. Sarah Vine, who is married to the Cabinet Office minister, said the prime minister must live “to a certain standard” and that it is “perfectly reasonable” for […]

Former Conservative politician Alan Duncan’s new memoir In The Thick Of It contains much criticism of Boris Johnson – but why didn’t he say this earlier? “NOW YOU TELL US” OF THE WEEK Former Conservative politician Alan Duncan, whose new memoir In The Thick Of It (can’t imagine where he came up with that title) […]

Talks are to be held with Brussels over post-Brexit trade difficulties between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, cabinet office minister Lord Frost has said. The Tory frontbencher told peers at his first dedicated question time in the Lords, that a “specialised committee” would meet on Friday March 26, to consider “all the issues” related to implementing […]

Comedian Mitch Benn hands out his alternative awards of another week in politics… REPEAT OFFENDER OF THE WEEK Rishi Sunak, who followed up last week’s excruciating “I’m just a guy, standing in front of a country, commending my budget to the House” video with an equally bizarre sequel in which he was interviewed by a […]

UK businesses and exporters have urged Lord David Frost to scrap No 10’s abrasive approach to dealing with Brussels and seek to build a more mutually beneficial trade relationship. Trade groups warned a breakdown in trade would inflict long-lasting damage on the UK economy. James Withers, chief executive of the industry group Scotland Food and Drink, […]

Boris Johnson is famous for making babies. Now his Brexit is making babies unhappy. It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain, where Boris Johnson dismisses the unfolding post-Brexit trade fiasco as mere “teething problems”, Michael Gove talks of “issues which I would not describe as teething problems” and manufacturers […]

Sky producers are searching for a Michael Gove lookalike to play the cabinet minister in the upcoming series, This Sceptred Isle. The five-part drama charts events surrounding the prime minister, Downing Street, and the country during the first wave of the global pandemic. A casting brief says producers are searching for a male “in his early 50s, […]

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is investigating sinister graffiti in a loyalist area of Belfast mentioning Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove. The message painted on a wall in Sandy Row included Gove’s name and an address above the words “We don’t forget, we don’t forgive”. It is the latest example of anti-Northern Ireland Protocol graffiti […]

TIM WALKER on Downing Street’s rival camps. Michael Gove may have put a brave face on Boris Johnson‘s decision to give his Brexit brief to Lord Frost, but I hear relations between the two old rivals are at their most strained since the 2016 Tory leadership contest. “The flashpoint was the PM’s disastrous trip to Scotland last month […]

The European parliament has been given an extension to scrutinise the Brexit deal between the UK government and EU. The UK has given the parliament until April 30 to debate the deal after MEPs called for more time. Despite coming into effect on January 1, the agreement has only been provisionally implemented, with a deadline to […]

Boris Johnson has created a minister for Brexit post – months after claiming he had got the issue “done”. Former negotiator Lord Frost will become an unelected member of the cabinet, overseeing the future relationship with the European Union. Downing Street said that the Conservative peer will become a minister of state in the Cabinet Office, reporting […]

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic has accused No 10 of failing to implement a range of obligations under the Northern Ireland Protocol as he warned sweeping changes to the protocol will not be possible. In a letter to Michael Gove, Sefcovic said the EU would not considering softening protocol obligations unless the UK complies with what […]

Michael Gove has been urged to show his unionist credentials by standing up for fishermen and Northern Ireland after Brexit, after admitting that the UK was facing a number of “obstacles” after Brexit. The Cabinet Office minister acknowledged the “bureaucratic obstacles” to negotiate and navigate with Brussels, as he was pressed to support “retaliation” against […]

Your weekly check on how Project Fear is becoming Project Reality, selected by Steve Anglesey.  It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain as Michael Gove’s war on experts appeared to have been extended to exports. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in charge of ensuring smooth trade after […]

The EU has rejected a call from Michael Gove to change the Northern Ireland Protocol – with the European Commission insisting it is the “only way” to protect the Good Friday Agreement. In a letter to the Cabinet Office minister on the eve of their meeting in London, the Commission’s vice president Maros Sefcovic wrote: “The […]

The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator has called for the EU to adopt a ‘different spirit’ during discussions over issues between Westminster and Brussels. Shortages on some food products have been experienced in Northern Ireland, businesses have struggled with red tape and Brussels recently threatened to override part of a post-Brexit agreement on the region to […]

Michael Gove has called for a ‘reset’ and ‘refinement’ of the Brexit deal which only came into force at the start of the year. The Cabinet Office minister has expressed frustration at the lack of progress in talks with Brussels aimed at resolving difficulties in Northern Ireland’s Brexit arrangements ahead of a meeting with the […]

A survey of international hauliers has found the volume of exports travelling from British ports to the EU fell 68% last month compared with the same period last year. The research by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) prompted it to write to Cabinet minister Michael Gove to call for assistance, particularly with increasing the number […]

No 10 has said a three-month Brexit grace period for retailers in Northern Ireland should be extended in order to avoid further trade disruptions. Cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted there had been “significant” problems at the Northern Ireland border ever since the UK left the single market on January 1. Supermarkets in the region have been […]

A Tory MP who refused to apologise for misleading comments about Covid-19 may still face disciplinary action by his party, Michael Gove has hinted. Sir Desmond Swayne wrongly told a group of vaccine sceptics that some Covid-19 data had been “manipulated” while encouraging them to “persist” with their campaign against lockdown restrictions. Gove, a cabinet minister, said […]

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said there is “an opportunity to look back” at government decisions made during the pandemic as he dismissed concerns it should not have allowed households to mix over Christmas. Gove suggested the government was not to blame for a spike in infections after Christmas during an interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). No […]

A Tory minister has refused to say if one of their MPs should lose the whip for “completely out of order” comments about Covid-19 statistics. Swayne was interviewed by a US anti-vaccine campaigner and urged an anti-lockdown group to persist with their efforts, suggesting official data should not be trusted. He said he is a […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has claimed that Boris Johnson is a ‘huge asset’ to Scotland. Gove was interviewed by BBC Breakfast after they pointed out that a rise in support for Scottish independence was down to Johnson’s Brexit project and his handling of the pandemic. Asked if he thought he was an “asset” or […]

Michael Gove has insisted it is safe for Boris Johnson to visit Scotland. The senior Cabinet minister told BBC Radio Scotland: “It is the case that the prime minister will be operating in a Covid-secure way. “There will be no danger to anyone’s health as a result, in fact quite the opposite, what the prime […]

Michael Gove and 13 Conservative MPs – including ministers and cabinet ministers – reportedly joined a social media platform favoured by the far right before it was forced offline last week. Nine Tory backbenchers joined Parler in an apparent show of support for free speech following Donald Trump’s clashes with Twitter over remarks he made following […]

Two of Britain’s most popular cars will cost £1,700 more this year thanks to new post-Brexit tariffs. Ford has increased the price of sport versions of its Fiesta and Puma ranges, which were both made in the EU and exported for sale in the UK. The motoring giant said it was passing on the costs to customers and […]