Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove (born 26 August 1967) is a British Conservative politician who served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from 2021 to July 2022 and October 2022 to the July 2024 general election. He was Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014, Secretary of State for Justice from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. An author and former columnist for The Times, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath from 2005 until the 2024 election.

1987
It may be immoral to keep an empire because the people of the third world have an inalienable right to self-determination, but that doesn't matter whether it's moral or immoral. At last Mrs Thatcher is saying I don't give a fig for what half of the population say because the richer half will keep me in power. This may be amoral, this may be immoral, but it's politics and it's pragmatism.
 * It may be moral to keep an empire because the fuzzy-wuzzies can't look after themselves.
 * We are at last experiencing a new empire: an empire where the happy south stamps over the cruel, dirty, toothless face of the northerner.
 * Extracts from a speech during a debate at Oxford University (1987), as cited in Holly Bancroft "Revealed: Michael Gove’s sexist jibes, racist jokes and homophobic slurs", The Independent (13 September 2021)

2003

 * The Government is about to introduce a new test for those considering a university career. The central question will be punishingly direct. Do you want to run up a debt of £21,000 in order to go to the best British universities? Some people will, apparently, be put off applying to our elite institutions by the prospect of taking on a debt of this size. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is all to the good.
 * Writing in The Times (21 January 2003)

2012

 * There are lots of other folk, including in the Cabinet who could easily be prime minister, I am not one of them. I could not be prime minister, I am not equipped to be prime minister, I don’t want to be prime minister.
 * Speaking on The World at One radio programme (2012)


 * I'm constitutionally incapable of it. There's a special extra quality you need that is indefinable, and I know I don't have it. There's an equanimity, an impermeability and a courage that you need. There are some things in life you know it's better not to try.
 * Quoted in Standpoint magazine (March 2012)


 * [The EU must] give us back our sovereignty or we will walk out
 * Philip Hammond backs Michael Gove over rethink on EU, BBC News, 14 October 2012

2015

 * The reality of Christian mission in today’s churches is a story of thousands of quiet kindnesses. In many of our most disadvantaged communities it is the churches that provide warmth, food, friendship and support for individuals who have fallen on the worst of times. The homeless, those in the grip of alcoholism or drug addiction, individuals with undiagnosed mental health problems and those overwhelmed by multiple crises are all helped — in innumerable ways — by Christians. Churches provide debt counselling, marriage guidance, childcare, English language lessons, after-school clubs, food banks, emergency accommodation and, sometimes most importantly of all, someone to listen. The lives of most clergy and the thoughts of most churchgoers are not occupied with agonising over sexual morality but with helping others in practical ways — in proving their commitment to Christ through service to others.
 * In defence of Christianity, The Spectator 4th April 2015


 * Christianity encourages us to look beyond tribe and tradition to celebrate our common humanity. And at every stage in human history when tyrants and dictators have attempted to set individuals against one another, it has been Christians who have shielded the vulnerable from oppression. It was Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Christian-inspired White Rose movement that led the internal opposition to Hitler’s rule. It was the moral witness of the Catholic church in Poland that helped erode Communism’s authority in the 1980s.
 * ibid

2016

 * I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU. And if, at this moment of decision, I didn't say what I believe, I would not be true to my convictions or my country. By leaving the EU we can take control. Indeed, we can show the rest of Europe the way to flourish. Instead of grumbling and complaining about the things we can't change and growing resentful and bitter, we can shape an optimistic, forward-looking and genuinely internationalist alternative to the path the EU is going down.
 * UK 'better off' out of EU - Michael Gove, BBC News, 20 February 2016


 * We'd have £350m a week extra to spend on our priorities, we'd be able to set our own laws, vary our own taxes [and] cut our own trade deals
 * Gove 'did not brief' Sun's 'Queen backs Brexit' story BBC News (12 March 2016)


 * The day after we vote to leave we hold all the cards and we can choose the path we want.
 * Speech at the Vote Leave offices in London (19 April 2016)


 * [The UK should be part of the European free trade zone with access to the European single market but] free from EU regulation which costs us billions of pounds a year.
 * Michael Gove sets out post-exit UK-EU trade vision, BBC News, 19 April 2016


 * Because we cannot control our borders - and because our deal sadly does nothing to change this fact - public services such as the NHS will face an unquantifiable strain as millions more become EU citizens
 * EU migration: UK to face 'free-for-all', Michael Gove warns, BBC News, 25 April 2016


 * Gove: I think the people in this country have had enough of experts, with organizations from acronyms, saying— Interviewer: They've had enough of experts? The people have had enough of experts? What do you mean by that? Gove: People from organizations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong. Inteviewer: The people of this country have had enough of experts? Gove: Because these people are the same ones who got consistently wrong what was happening. Interviewer: This is proper Trump politics this, isn't it? Gove: No it's actually a faith in the— Inteviewer: It's Oxbridge Trump. Gove: It's a faith, Faisal, in the British people to make the right decision.
 * Interview with Faisal Islam on Sky News (3 June 2016)


 * With the terrorism threat that we face only growing, it is hard to see how it could possibly be in our security interests to open visa-free travel to 77 million Turkish citizens and to create a border-free zone from Iraq, Iran and Syria to the English Channel. It is even harder to see how such a course is wise when extremists everywhere will believe that the West is opening its borders to appease an Islamist government.
 * Turkey EU accession poses security risk - Michael Gove BBC News (8 June 2016)


 * Many of the people who say that we will suffer economically if we're outside the EU were the same people who said we had to be inside the euro. They were wrong then, they're wrong now.
 * EU referendum: Labour urges its voters not to back Brexit BBC News (10 June 2016)


 * I think it's a shame that the Remain camp are talking this country down
 * Michael Gove calls for 'balanced' migration system on Question Time special BBC News (15 June 2016)


 * My view is that whatever happens in the future we will be in a strong position to deal with any crises that occur as a result of leaving the EU.
 * Michael Gove calls for 'balanced' migration system on Question Time special BBC News (15 June 2016)


 * I have repeatedly said that I do not want to be prime minister. That has always been my view. But events since last Thursday have weighed heavily with me. I respect and admire all the candidates running for the leadership. In particular, I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future. But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.
 * Michael Gove and Theresa May head five-way Conservative race, BBC News, 30 June 2016


 * I did almost everything not to be a candidate for the leadership of this party. I was so very reluctant because I know my limitations. Whatever charisma is, I don't have it. Whatever glamour may be, I don't think anyone could ever associate me with it. I am standing for the leadership not as a result of calculation; I am standing with the burning desire to transform our country. Because my heart tells me that if we are bold, if we refuse to settle for business as usual, if we dare to dream and summon up all the qualities that have made this country the greatest in the world, then for Britain - and its people - our best days lie ahead.
 * Announcing his candidacy to be Tory leader and Prime Minister (1 July 2016)


 * As I look back on that time, I think that there were mistakes that I made... I also think that my initial instinct that I was not the best person to put themselves forward as a potential prime minister, well most of my colleagues agreed.
 * Michael Gove: Theresa May was 'right to sack me', BBC News, 9 December 2016

2017

 * While the EU has often been a force for good in raising environmental standards, some of the means haven't necessarily been the most effective regulatory tools - so getting those right will be critical to Brexit success. There's a huge opportunity to design a better system for supporting farmers, but first I need to listen to environmentalists about how we can use that money to better protect the environment… and also to farmers to learn how to make the regime work better.
 * Brexit 'will enhance' UK wildlife laws - Gove BBC News (19 June 2017)


 * [Brexit is] a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform how we care for our land, our rivers and our seas, how we recast our ambition for our country’s environment, and the planet
 * Farm subsidies 'must be earned' - Michael Gove BBC News (21 July 2017)


 * [There is] no reason Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe should be in prison in Iran so far as any of us know
 * "Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Gove under fire for comments", BBC News (12 November 2017)


 * [I will] make Brexit work not just for citizens but for the animals we love and cherish too
 * Michael Gove: I'll make Brexit work for animals too, BBC News (12 December 2017)


 * Animals are sentient beings who feel pain and suffering, so we are writing that principle into law and ensuring that we protect their welfare. Our plans will also increase sentences for those who commit the most heinous acts of animal cruelty to five years in jail. We are a nation of animal lovers so we will make Brexit work not just for citizens but for the animals we love and cherish too.
 * Michael Gove: I'll make Brexit work for animals too, BBC News, 12 December 2017


 * I am deeply concerned about your unpatriotic attitude towards cheese
 * Brexit: Be more patriotic about cheese, says Michael Gove BBC News (20 December 2017)

2018

 * We have a great future outside the European Union and we should be embracing that
 * Donald Tusk: EU's 'heart still open to UK' over Brexit BBC News (16 January 2018)


 * The new law will reaffirm the UK's global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past. Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol.
 * UK ivory ban among world's 'toughest', Michael Gove says, BBC News, 3 April 2018


 * My view is that what is emblematic of Britain is the welcome that we gave the Windrush generation, the welcome we gave people fleeing Idi Amin in the 1970s, the welcome that we continue to give those fleeing persecution. And now the fact that outside the European Union we can have a truly colour-blind migration policy that, if the British people want to, treats people from the Bahamas in the same way as we treat people from Bulgaria.
 * Michael Gove: Brexit's not made UK less welcoming to immigrants, BBC News, 19 April 2018


 * [Brexit was motivated by a desire to] restore faith in our democratic institutions
 * Brexit voters are not identitarians, says Michael Gove BBC News (21 May 2018)


 * one of the things we can do is continue to ensure that trees are allowed to survive - rather than by being chopped down by a council which is in thrall to its own officers
 * Michael Gove: Sheffield City Council 'in thrall' over tree-felling, BBC News, 23 May 2018


 * The creation of national parks almost 70 years ago changed the way we view our precious landscapes - helping us all access and enjoy our natural world. We want to make sure they are not only conserved, but enhanced for the next generation. Are we properly supporting all those who live in, work in, or want to visit these magnificent places? Should we indeed be extending our areas of designated land?
 * England could have new national parks in Gove review, BBC News, 27 May 2018


 * In all the important areas where an independent country chooses to exercise sovereignty, the UK will be able to do so and, in so doing, respect the referendum result and the mandate we were given,
 * Brexit: Michael Gove urges Tories to back Theresa May's plan, BBC News, 8 July 2018


 * 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 because we have got to make sure that we respect that vote and take advantage of the opportunities of being outside the European Union.
 * Brexit: Future PM 'could change EU relationship' BBC News (16 September 2018)


 * [I continue to believe Mrs May has the right formula for leaving the EU.] I think the prime minister is doing a great job. I think it is really important that we unite as a party.
 * Boris Johnson sets out his 'Super Canada' Brexit plan, BBC News, 28 September 2018


 * We don't want to stay in the EU. We voted very clearly, 17.4 million people sent a clear message that we want to leave the European Union, and that means also leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice
 * Brexit ruling: UK can cancel decision, EU court says BBC News (10 December 2018)

2019

 * No-one can be blithe or blase about the real impact on food producers in this country of leaving without a deal.
 * Speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, BBC News, 3 January 2019


 * It will not be the case that we will have zero-rate tariffs on food products. There will be protections for sensitive sections of agriculture and food production.
 * Brexit: UK will apply food tariffs in case of no deal BBC News (19 February 2019)


 * [If it] finally comes to a decision between no deal and no Brexit, I will choose no deal
 * Tory leadership: Brexit deadline 'not fixed date' says Gove, BBC News, 5 June 2019


 * I took drugs on several occasions at social events more than 20 years ago. At the time I was a young journalist. It was a mistake. I look back and I think I wish I hadn't done that. I think all politicians have lives before politics. Certainly when I was working as a journalist I didn't imagine I would go into politics or public service. I didn't act with an eye to that. The question now is that people should look at my record as a politician and ask themselves, 'Is this person we see ready to lead now?' I have seen the damage drugs can do to others and that is why I deeply regret the decisions I took,
 * Michael Gove: Cocaine 'mistake' a 'deep regret', BBC News, 8 June 2019


 * The point that I made in the article is that if any of us lapse sometimes from standards that we uphold, that is human. The thing to do is not necessarily then to say that the standards should be lowered. It should be to reflect on the lapse and to seek to do better in the future.
 * Michael Gove admits he was lucky to avoid jail over cocaine use, BBC News, 9 June 2019


 * [It is] not enough to believe in Brexit you've also got to be able to deliver it
 * Tory leadership: Final 10 contenders named in race to No 10 BBC News (10 June 2019)


 * Full stop to the [Irish border] backstop
 * Tory leadership hopefuls set out Brexit Irish backstop policy BBC News (11 June 2019)


 * we must not rule out no deal.
 * Brexit: Labour seeking to block no deal BBC News (12 June 2019)


 * Hatred towards people on the basis of their background or faith is repugnant
 * Tory leadership race: Five key moments from debate BBC News (18 June 2019)


 * If there are Islamophobes in the Conservative Party - and there are - we should root them out.
 * Tory leadership race: Five key moments from debate BBC News (18 June 2019)


 * We need to be absolutely resolute in tackling racism and prejudice of all kinds
 * Tory leadership rivals back Islamophobia inquiry BBC News (19 June 2019)


 * No deal is now a very real prospect.
 * No-deal Brexit now 'assumed' by government, says Gove BBC News (28 July 2019)


 * There won't be any delays, we are determined that we are going to leave on October 31st, and it's my job to make sure the country is ready.
 * Brexit: Don't underestimate Boris Johnson, EU warned BBC News (29 July 2019)


 * We didn't vote to leave without a deal. That wasn't the message of the campaign I helped lead. During that campaign, we said we should do a deal with the EU and be part of the network of free trade deals that covers all Europe, from Iceland to Turkey.
 * Brexit: Did Dominic Raab warn of no-deal during referendum campaign? BBC News (1 August 2019)


 * It's certainly the case that there will be bumps in the road, some element of disruption in the event of no-deal.
 * Brexit: No-deal dossier shows worst-case scenario - Gove BBC News (18 August 2019)


 * Sadly, there are some in the House of Commons who think they can try to prevent us leaving on October 31st. And as long as they continue to try to make that argument, then that actually gives some heart to some in the European Union that we won't leave on October 31st. The sooner that everyone recognises that we will leave on that day, the quicker we can move towards a good deal in everyone's interests.
 * Brexit: No-deal dossier shows worst-case scenario - Gove BBC News (18 August 2019)


 * We have a new government now, and under this new government we've been taking steps to make sure that we are properly prepared for exit on October 31.
 * Brexit: Michael Gove pledges to ensure traffic flows through ports BBC News (21 August 2019)


 * The assumptions in that document were the product of work done then. We have a new government now, and under this new government we've been taking steps to make sure that we are properly prepared for exit on October 31.
 * Brexit: Michael Gove pledges to ensure traffic flows through ports BBC News (21 August 2019)


 * I think that there are a number of economic factors in play. Some prices may go up. Other prices will come down.
 * Brexit: NI retailers challenge Michael Gove on no-deal food supply BBC News (1 September 2019)

2020

 * Businesses in Northern Ireland have the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds: access to the, because there's no infrastructure on the Island of Ireland, and at the same time unfettered access to the rest of the UK market.
 * Interviewed by ITV News after agreeing in principle to withdraw law-breaking clauses in the (8 December 2020)

2023
I'm sure there are some people who would like to change that policy, I understand. But that policy remains.
 * We're committed to maintaining our policy of ensuring that by 2030 there are no new petrol and diesel cars being sold.
 * Interviewed on Today (BBC Radio 4, 25 July 2023), as cited in "2030 ban on new petrol car sales is immovable, insists Gove" The Independent (25 July 2023)
 * In the press, prime minister Rishi Sunak was reported as being open to a rethink on his government's Net zero after he gave a series of interviews on 24 July 2023.


 * It's important that the Government does press ahead with appropriate and thoughtful steps in order to safeguard the environment but there are some specific areas where the cost that is being imposed on individuals risks creating a backlash. [...] We don't want to get to a situation where the support for improving our environment curdles and turns into resistance.
 * Interviewed on Times Radio, (25 July 2023), as cited in "2030 ban on new petrol car sales is immovable, insists Gove" The Independent (25 July 2023)


 * [On government ministers falling out with "special interest" groups] Very few health secretaries are going to be toasted by doctors, very few educational secretaries are going to get apples from teachers and very few secretary of states in this role are going to get Fortnum & Mason hampers sent to them by the Home Builders Federation.
 * From an interview, as cited in "Michael Gove: I’ll take planning powers off councils if I have to", The Times (18 December 2023)

Quotes about Gove

 * Michael Gove and I are probably the last two believers in the divine right of kings.
 * John Hayes, Conservative MP, as cited by Rachel Cunliffe in "John Hayes: 'Tory voters want full-fat Conservatism'", The New Statesman (9 March 2024)


 * He [Gove] evoked a support at least for that position [found in Tetlock's book], Expert Political Judgment, in which portions of that book compare subject matter experts to minimalist statistical baselines like extrapolation. Can you predict simple extrapolation algorithms? And the answer was often no. Gove was raising the point that, where do these guys get off making these confident predictions about the consequences of Brexit? And the best empirical evidence would suggest that probably not materially more accurate than simple extrapolation algorithms.
 * Philip Tetlock, Conversations with Tyler (22 April 2020).


 * I know that within the Tory party the hard Brexiteers are compared to the leaders of the French revolution. I think Gove is Brissot, and Boris Johnson is Danton, and Rees-Mogg is compared to Robespierre. We should not forget that the efforts of these men were not appreciated by the common man they claimed to represent – because they all ended up on the guillotine. So that’s important to remind [them].
 * Guy Verhofstadt, Brexit: Guy Verhofstadt suggests Leave campaigners could ‘end up on the guillotine’