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Politics
Liam O'Dell
Jun 18, 2023
Michael Gove reveals if he's been lobbied by Boris Johnson on weight loss
content.jwplatform.com
Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove seems to have had a sudden change of heart this weekend by saying we need to “follow the advice of the experts” on important issues – several years after his infamous comment during the EU referendum campaign that the public had “had enough” of them.
During an appearance on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the Brexiteer was asked if former MP and ex-prime minister Boris Johnson – with whom he hasn’t always had the best relationship – has been “lobbying” him on the issue of weight loss drugs.
The question referred to Mr Johnson’s new gig now that he’s left parliament, which is writing weekly columns for the Daily Mail – the first of which was published this week on the rather odd subject of a “wonder drug” known as semaglutide he hoped “would stop my 11:30pm fridge raids for cheddar and chorizo”.
Insightful stuff.
Anyway, Mr Gove replied: “No, when it comes to weight loss – or indeed, anything else – I think the most important thing is to follow the advice of the experts.”
After the recorded interview finished, Ms Ridge – now presenting live – quipped: “Michael Gove now a fan of experts. Who’d have thought it?”
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Zing.
Viewers of the programme also noticed the U-turn in Mr Gove’s opinion, and praised Ms Ridge for pointing it out:
\u201c@Haggis_UK @elsewhere55 Medical experts, no less. Astonishing...\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1687075230
\u201cMichael Gove on #Ridge today:\n\n"When it comes to weight loss, OR ANYTHING ELSE, I think the most important thing is to follow the advice of experts\n\nGove 2016:\n"People in this country have had enough of experts from organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best"\u201d— Will Black \ud83c\udf53 (@Will Black \ud83c\udf53) 1687087751
\u201cMichael Gove on junk food talking to Sophy Rudge..'we've got to follow the advice of experts'.. Gove on Brexit 'we've had enough of experts' #toriesout\u201d— Roger of RTW (@Roger of RTW) 1687075050
\u201c\u201cMichael Gove, a now fan of experts\u2026 who\u2019d have thought it\u201d\n\nChapeau @SophyRidgeSky \n\n https://t.co/WCxA7PJPLX\u201d— Andy Jolley (@Andy Jolley) 1687078848
\u201c\u201cMichael Gove, now a fan of experts. Who would have thought?\u201d \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 #Ridge\u201d— Antonia Loizides \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf39 (@Antonia Loizides \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf39) 1687075191
\u201cDid Michael Gove who once said \n\u201cI think the people of this country have had enough of experts" \njust say \n\u201cwe should listen to experts\u201d on #Ridge \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d— Darren (@Darren) 1687074939
\u201c#ridge \nMichael Gove: "The important thing is to follow the advice of the experts."\n\nThis from the man who once said no one listens to experts anymore.\u201d— david baxter \ud83d\udc33 (@david baxter \ud83d\udc33) 1687074926
\u201cMichael Gove "When it comes to weight loss, I think the most important thing is to follow the advice of the experts."\n\nMaking a big U-turn on listening to the better-informed on Sophy Ridge this morning.\u201d— Stu Can Play At That Game (@Stu Can Play At That Game) 1687075003
\u201c\u2018Michael Gove now a fan of experts\u2019 great sign off by #Ridge\u201d— Ron Gray (@Ron Gray) 1687074866
As a reminder, just over seven years ago, Mr Gove – then the justice secretary – appeared on Sky News’s EU: In Or Out programme to make the case for leaving the European Union, during which he told interviewer Faisal Islam: “I think the people of this country have had enough of experts, with organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong.”
In further comments about experts ahead of the UK’s eventual vote to leave, Mr Gove compared economists warning about leaving the EU to Nazis who denounced Albert Einstein in the 1930s – an analogy he later apologised for and branded “clumsy and inappropriate”.
The Surrey Heath MP addressed the viral Sky News comment several months later during an interview for Newsnight, in which he claimed it was a “high profile, high intensity, high nervousness encounter”.
While he said he did not regret the use of the term “experts”, he added: “I think one of the things that is occasionally irritating, is that people assume that what I was saying was a blanket rejection of facts, evidence, rigour.”
How times change…
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