>#As the Truss bandwagon clatters on, this is why I’m backing Rishi Sunak
>Michael Gove, Friday August 19 2022, 9.00pm BST, The Times
>It’s just one business. But it’s also one man’s life. One family’s dream. And one community’s focus. The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Torry, the harbourside area of Aberdeen where my father grew up, has been at the centre of local life for five decades. Now it’s about to close, crippled by energy bills that its owner, Martin Tang, just cannot pay. And Martin isn’t alone. Small businesses across the UK are facing staggering increases in costs. In the cliché so favoured by politicians, these businesspeople worked hard, they did the right thing. And now their future is fire and ashes.
>As their dreams die, so do the hopes of millions more quietly suffocated. Research by my former colleague James Frayne indicates that at least a quarter of the population are already at the point where, once urgent bills have been paid, there is nothing left at the end of the month. Nothing. No money for saving, for emergencies, for Christmas. That is happening right now, despite the extensive support the government has provided. Before energy prices rise, before inflation further outpaces any increase in wages, before further interest rate increases add to mortgage costs, before the worst economic winter for decades.
>When the next prime minister takes office in a few weeks’ time there will be millions of our fellow citizens under unprecedented pressure. It is a task that would daunt any politician. And our new prime minister will also be conscious that they inherit a fractured party still suffering from the aftershocks of Boris Johnson’s removal. Much has been written about Boris’s leadership, some of it about my relationship with him. All I want to say here is that I admired him hugely in his premiership and thought him brave and right in his handling of Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I also know how driven he was by the mission to level up the country and bring opportunity to overlooked families and undervalued communities. I was saddened both by the fact and manner of his departure, and regret deeply that it happened. It is no small challenge to succeed him.
>The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen has been crippled by energy bills
The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen has been crippled by energy bills
After Boris resigned there was no question in my mind that the person best equipped to meet the challenge of leadership was Kemi Badenoch. Of all those who served in departments I led she was the outstanding talent — brave, brilliant, analytically superb and, above all, honest.
>I was disappointed when Kemi was knocked out. I take comfort from the fact that the next prime minister will have her at the heart of their government. And from the fact that both the remaining candidates are politicians of intelligence, conviction and proven experience.
>When Liz Truss was a minister alongside me at the education department, appointed after a powerful campaign from the back benches to reform childcare, she threw herself into early years and school reform. She is tenacious, brave and has a huge appetite for policy detail.
>Rishi Sunak has all those virtues too. And more. Within months of becoming an MP he was told his career would be blighted if he backed Brexit. I asked him to follow his heart and do what he thought best for the country, not his career. He did. I know he always will.
>Weeks after he became chancellor, the country and our economy were devastated by the Covid pandemic. Rishi designed, introduced and defended support for the most vulnerable at a time of crisis. He put the strength of the state at the service of the weakest. I know he always will.
>So as this final stage of the leadership contest began, with Kemi no longer a candidate, my heart inclined me to vote for Rishi. But, like so many other Tory members, I wanted to see what the candidates had to say as the campaign went to the country before voting.
>Liz has been admirably clear, consistent and principled in the case she has made. She’s made her argument with a winning brio. But I do not think her prospectus is the right answer for the world we face. It does not address the fundamental problems of potential neglected, productivity suppressed and the vulnerable suffering the most.
>Central to unlocking potential and improving productivity is further reform of our education system. Our biggest challenge remains the attainment gap between rich and poor. We will prosper only if children in poor neighbourhoods have the opportunities the successful enjoy. A focus on the fate of students with A* at A-level, who are already on course for success, and a call for more grammar schools, when there is neither the money to build them nor the evidence they advance social mobility, should not be our priority.
>Even more important is what a future government will adopt as its central economic plan. And here I am deeply concerned that the framing of the leadership debate by many has been a holiday from reality. The answer to the cost of living crisis cannot be simply to reject further “handouts” and cut tax. Proposed cuts to national insurance would favour the wealthy, and changes to corporation tax apply to big businesses, not small entrepreneurs. I cannot see how safeguarding the stock options of FTSE 100 executives should ever take precedence over supporting the poorest in our society, but at a time of want it cannot be the right priority.
>In contrast, I believe Rishi makes the right arguments. On education he has stressed the need for new free schools in areas of disadvantage and higher expectations in maths and English for all students. And, even more importantly, on the central economic questions he has told the truth. We cannot cut general taxation further until we get inflation under control, and control spending and reduce borrowing. We cannot reduce spending quickly on the scale required to make the tax cuts we want when support for the poorest is so necessary.
Because sunak offered him a job perhaps?
Christ! If anything’s likely to derail Sunak’s campaign it’s the endorsement of Britain’s highest ranking frog.
Ive never noticed how he looks like a ventriloquist doll before. God thats one creepy picture
Rishi ‘designed’ packages to help? By carefully copying the steps enacted by our European neighbours first.
Gove feels like the kiss of death.
They picked their winner already.
1% of voters, voting in the 1% of MPs fighting for a title, waiting on the real 1% to throw them scraps, for being a good pet.
Thank god one criminal banged the final nails into the coffin of another criminal. Now all that’s left is to box up Truss and nail that coffin shut too. General election time
Does anyone have enough respect for this obsequious wormtongue to value any of his pronouncements?
>All I want to say here is that I admired him hugely in his premiership and thought him brave and right in his handling of Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I also know how driven he was by the mission to level up the country and bring opportunity to overlooked families and undervalued communities. I was saddened both by the fact and manner of his departure, and regret deeply that it happened.
Ah, so in other words we can ignore your opinions on the next leader since you **still** think the last one was great despite the current state of the country and all evidence to the contrary. Cheers, Mike.
Sounds like someone is ready to retire to their post on the board of an energy company.
I would not get bored watching Gove being repeatedly slapped by one of those giant hands from the Jackass series.
Gove tapping out is like the head rat leaving the ship. He knows what’s coming for us over the next year and wants to be far away from it.
Says the brEXIT man! Who got dumped!
I’d back dogshit over these two
The one bright side of Truss becoming PM will be that Gove is no longer part of the government
Gove, Sunak and Johnson are all part of a weird, slimy little social circle, where they all seem to be using each other for personal power. I almost wouldn’t even mind it if they were genuine philosophical conservatives, though I disagree with it personally. Reminds me of when I was at university and there was this circle of privately educated schoolboys who were all friends with each other and certain uni society leadership positions just seemed to cycle between them all, even though I’m not sure any of them actually liked each other on a personal level.
16 comments
>#As the Truss bandwagon clatters on, this is why I’m backing Rishi Sunak
>Michael Gove, Friday August 19 2022, 9.00pm BST, The Times
>It’s just one business. But it’s also one man’s life. One family’s dream. And one community’s focus. The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Torry, the harbourside area of Aberdeen where my father grew up, has been at the centre of local life for five decades. Now it’s about to close, crippled by energy bills that its owner, Martin Tang, just cannot pay. And Martin isn’t alone. Small businesses across the UK are facing staggering increases in costs. In the cliché so favoured by politicians, these businesspeople worked hard, they did the right thing. And now their future is fire and ashes.
>As their dreams die, so do the hopes of millions more quietly suffocated. Research by my former colleague James Frayne indicates that at least a quarter of the population are already at the point where, once urgent bills have been paid, there is nothing left at the end of the month. Nothing. No money for saving, for emergencies, for Christmas. That is happening right now, despite the extensive support the government has provided. Before energy prices rise, before inflation further outpaces any increase in wages, before further interest rate increases add to mortgage costs, before the worst economic winter for decades.
>When the next prime minister takes office in a few weeks’ time there will be millions of our fellow citizens under unprecedented pressure. It is a task that would daunt any politician. And our new prime minister will also be conscious that they inherit a fractured party still suffering from the aftershocks of Boris Johnson’s removal. Much has been written about Boris’s leadership, some of it about my relationship with him. All I want to say here is that I admired him hugely in his premiership and thought him brave and right in his handling of Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I also know how driven he was by the mission to level up the country and bring opportunity to overlooked families and undervalued communities. I was saddened both by the fact and manner of his departure, and regret deeply that it happened. It is no small challenge to succeed him.
>The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen has been crippled by energy bills
The Royal Crown Chinese restaurant in Aberdeen has been crippled by energy bills
After Boris resigned there was no question in my mind that the person best equipped to meet the challenge of leadership was Kemi Badenoch. Of all those who served in departments I led she was the outstanding talent — brave, brilliant, analytically superb and, above all, honest.
>I was disappointed when Kemi was knocked out. I take comfort from the fact that the next prime minister will have her at the heart of their government. And from the fact that both the remaining candidates are politicians of intelligence, conviction and proven experience.
>When Liz Truss was a minister alongside me at the education department, appointed after a powerful campaign from the back benches to reform childcare, she threw herself into early years and school reform. She is tenacious, brave and has a huge appetite for policy detail.
>Rishi Sunak has all those virtues too. And more. Within months of becoming an MP he was told his career would be blighted if he backed Brexit. I asked him to follow his heart and do what he thought best for the country, not his career. He did. I know he always will.
>Weeks after he became chancellor, the country and our economy were devastated by the Covid pandemic. Rishi designed, introduced and defended support for the most vulnerable at a time of crisis. He put the strength of the state at the service of the weakest. I know he always will.
>So as this final stage of the leadership contest began, with Kemi no longer a candidate, my heart inclined me to vote for Rishi. But, like so many other Tory members, I wanted to see what the candidates had to say as the campaign went to the country before voting.
>Liz has been admirably clear, consistent and principled in the case she has made. She’s made her argument with a winning brio. But I do not think her prospectus is the right answer for the world we face. It does not address the fundamental problems of potential neglected, productivity suppressed and the vulnerable suffering the most.
>Central to unlocking potential and improving productivity is further reform of our education system. Our biggest challenge remains the attainment gap between rich and poor. We will prosper only if children in poor neighbourhoods have the opportunities the successful enjoy. A focus on the fate of students with A* at A-level, who are already on course for success, and a call for more grammar schools, when there is neither the money to build them nor the evidence they advance social mobility, should not be our priority.
>Even more important is what a future government will adopt as its central economic plan. And here I am deeply concerned that the framing of the leadership debate by many has been a holiday from reality. The answer to the cost of living crisis cannot be simply to reject further “handouts” and cut tax. Proposed cuts to national insurance would favour the wealthy, and changes to corporation tax apply to big businesses, not small entrepreneurs. I cannot see how safeguarding the stock options of FTSE 100 executives should ever take precedence over supporting the poorest in our society, but at a time of want it cannot be the right priority.
>In contrast, I believe Rishi makes the right arguments. On education he has stressed the need for new free schools in areas of disadvantage and higher expectations in maths and English for all students. And, even more importantly, on the central economic questions he has told the truth. We cannot cut general taxation further until we get inflation under control, and control spending and reduce borrowing. We cannot reduce spending quickly on the scale required to make the tax cuts we want when support for the poorest is so necessary.
Because sunak offered him a job perhaps?
Christ! If anything’s likely to derail Sunak’s campaign it’s the endorsement of Britain’s highest ranking frog.
Ive never noticed how he looks like a ventriloquist doll before. God thats one creepy picture
Rishi ‘designed’ packages to help? By carefully copying the steps enacted by our European neighbours first.
Gove feels like the kiss of death.
They picked their winner already.
1% of voters, voting in the 1% of MPs fighting for a title, waiting on the real 1% to throw them scraps, for being a good pet.
Thank god one criminal banged the final nails into the coffin of another criminal. Now all that’s left is to box up Truss and nail that coffin shut too. General election time
Does anyone have enough respect for this obsequious wormtongue to value any of his pronouncements?
>All I want to say here is that I admired him hugely in his premiership and thought him brave and right in his handling of Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I also know how driven he was by the mission to level up the country and bring opportunity to overlooked families and undervalued communities. I was saddened both by the fact and manner of his departure, and regret deeply that it happened.
Ah, so in other words we can ignore your opinions on the next leader since you **still** think the last one was great despite the current state of the country and all evidence to the contrary. Cheers, Mike.
Sounds like someone is ready to retire to their post on the board of an energy company.
I would not get bored watching Gove being repeatedly slapped by one of those giant hands from the Jackass series.
Gove tapping out is like the head rat leaving the ship. He knows what’s coming for us over the next year and wants to be far away from it.
Says the brEXIT man! Who got dumped!
I’d back dogshit over these two
The one bright side of Truss becoming PM will be that Gove is no longer part of the government
Gove, Sunak and Johnson are all part of a weird, slimy little social circle, where they all seem to be using each other for personal power. I almost wouldn’t even mind it if they were genuine philosophical conservatives, though I disagree with it personally. Reminds me of when I was at university and there was this circle of privately educated schoolboys who were all friends with each other and certain uni society leadership positions just seemed to cycle between them all, even though I’m not sure any of them actually liked each other on a personal level.
That pic is very sinister