Michael Gove accused of racist and homophobic remarks at Oxford University as recordings emerge
The comments were reportedly made by the Cabinet Minister in 1987 and 1993 at Oxford University and at The Cambridge Union.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Wiki
Michael Gove reportedly made racist and homophobic comments while he was a student at Oxford University, as well as joking about paedophilia in the UK government.
In speeches made at The Cambridge Union – recordings of which have been uncovered by The Indepedent – he also described Prince Charles as a “dull, wet, drippy adulterer”.
The now Conservative Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is said to have made the comments in three debates in 1987 and 1993.
According to recordings obtained by The Independent, Gove, who became an MP in 2005, described people in colonised countries as “fuzzy-wuzzies” and accused the late Sir Leon Brittan of being a paedophile.
He’s also quoted as saying the Margaret Thatcher era was a “new empire” and “the happy south stamps over the cruel, dirty, toothless face of the northerner”. He also said, per the Independent, that gay people “thrive primarily upon short-term relations”.
The paper reports that these comments were met with mixed reactions including some cheers and some cries of “shame”.
In 1993, after graduating from university and working as a journalist, Gove made the comments regarding Sir Leon Brittan, joking that Brittan thought the sound of a young boy’s voice breaking was as sweet as the same boy engaging in sexual acts.
Later that year, in December, Gove made sexual jokes about the current Justice Minister, Lucy Frazer, and said she had done well to come from “the back streets of the slums of Leeds”.
These, and many more disgusting and vile comments made by Gove, have led to calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to consider Gove’s position in Cabinet.
The party’s MP, Wendy Chamberlain, has said Michael Gove should be ashamed and that “these inappropriate and racist remarks are not befitting of a government minister, not befitting of a journalist, in fact not befitting of anyone.
She also alludes to the Prime Minister’s own chequered past when it comes to language and comments he’s used before, suggesting that will see this episode pass unchallenged.
Attitude has approached Michael Gove’s office for comment.
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