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Thursday 16 June 2016

Michael Gove’s Fishy Fable Founders

The image of Michael “Oiky” Gove that he and his pals in the press love to cultivate is one of exceptional good manners and courteousness, that he is someone who does not indulge in all those personal attacks, would not dream of sinking to the level of those who oppose him. What this picture does not paint is the motley convocation of polecats, attack dogs and abuse merchants who do that sort of thing for him.
Yes, "Oiky", you've been rumbled

This highly original way of doing business was illustrated excellently after Gove’s claim that “his father’s firm ‘went to the wall’ because of the EU’s fisheries policies, and that the common fisheries policy ‘destroyed’ it” was debunked … by his father. Ernest Gove came clean in response to an enquiry from the Guardian’s Severin Carrell.

The real story was that “he had sold the business voluntarily because the fishing industry in Aberdeen was being hit by a range of different factors. Those included competition for space in the port from North Sea oil vessels, the Icelandic cod wars, dockworkers’ strikes and new 200-mile limits [around Iceland and Norway] to control over-fishing”.
It got worse: the Guardian, while also telling readers that Gove’s father would be backing the Leave campaign, noted “Gove Sr said he was now nearly 80 and could not remember when he had sold the family firm. Michael Gove told reporters on Monday that it had happened while he was sitting his school exams. That timescale puts its closure in the early to mid-1980s - before strict fishing quotas were introduced under the CFP”.
In other words, Gove’s father blames the EU for the collapse of the Aberdeen fishing industry, but EU fishing quotas did not force the sale of his business. Gove had been caught over-egging his pudding, as well as avoiding the real issue behind imposition of quotas - the decades of over-fishing that had started many years before Britain joined what was then the EEC. But rather than admit he had fibbed, Gove’s pals went on the attack.
Euro Guido, one of many Twitter accounts under the control of the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog, told of “Remainers new lies today: false claims about Gove's father”, but the Guardian has released the transcript of the conversation between Severin Carrell and Ernest Gove. (Thankfully) former Tory MP Louise Mensch went a lot further, and was considerably more dishonest.
The Guardian are lying. Disgusting and sick. NOTHING Ernest Gove said to them contradicts Michael Gove … The first paragraph is not contradicted by the second paragraph. Apologise for these filthy lies Guardian … Disgraceful. The Guardian editor who lied about what Ernest said should resign”. Gove himself has said in his courteous but dishonest manner that the Guardianput words into” his father’s mouth. They did not.

Michael Gove twisted the available facts to fit his prejudices. He got caught. The reason the Outers are so upset about it is that Gove is being presented as a straight and honest politician, which he is not, and never has been. He got rumbled. End of story.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael Gove has always been a lying hypocrite. It says everything about him that UnterMensch is a "political companion." Mensch of course is merely another far right neocon gobshite. Put them together and you have the kind of disgusting reactionary politics that stink the place out. This episode is typical of them. Seedy spivs both.

Last week even the Grey Banquo John Major was moved to tell the truth about Gove and his policy to privatise the NHS. Of course nobody in mainstream media has moved their arse to ask Gove for a response.

You can always tell when Gove's lying: His lips are moving.

Andy McDonald said...

Am I alone in finding the language used by the likes of Mensch just a tad over the top? "Disgusting and sick"? "Disgraceful"? In the words of those legendary wordsmiths Winner and Cameron, calm down.

In a way it's another sad aspect of the modern media circus, and to be expected from people who inexplicably make money from being rude to people on Twitter - anything your side does is fair game; anything their side does is proceed to 9th level of Hell, do not pass go.

Anonymous said...

Give is the one in politics not his father.
Typical they pull this out now.
Gove must be making a good impression for the leave campaign.

Yes, that'll be why.

Dirty tactics.

pete c said...

Any comments from La Mensch and the gang on the £100bn wiped off shares in the last week.

No. Quel surprise.