‘The sea is in my blood. My father made his living as a fish merchant, as did his father before him. Generations of Goves have gone to sea, harvested its riches and fed families with the healthiest — and most renewable — resource on the planet, our fish.’
So begins Michael Gove’s passionate call to arms, inspired by Blue Planet II, to save the oceans from mankind. Gove is one of the most intellectually original people in politics, and a very likeable man. But if British politics is a box set series, he also has the best character arc of any politician – like Jaime Lannister after he loses his hand or Prez in The Wire when he becomes a teacher, Gove always seems to be developing and surprising the audience.
Maybe it’s all just PR but since his appointment in June he has transformed into a ‘full-throated environmentalist’, banning ivory sales, taking renewed action on plastic bottles, making plans for CCTV in slaughterhouses and increased penalties for animal cruelty.
Gove started out in government as a shrewd and determined education secretary, with Dominic Cummings as his chief of staff.
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