Fact check: what did Michael Gove actually say about ‘experts’?

Misquotes are all too common in British politics. Whether it’s Thatcher and ‘no such thing as society’ or Callaghan with ‘Crisis? What crisis?’ too often a lie can be halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on – as Churchill, err, didn’t say. 

But one hope would hope for better standards from the head of Britain’s leading university. Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of Oxford University has made headlines (again) for her comments on a panel about Michael Gove’s words during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Speaking at Times Higher Education’s World Academic Summit, Richardson said: ‘

Michael Gove, the British cabinet minister who I am embarrassed to confess we educated, famously said after it was pointed out to him by a journalist that all the experts opposed Brexit, he said: ‘Oh we’ve had enough of experts.’ With the vaccine, it seems like the public can’t get enough of experts. Many of our scientists have become household names.