Sunday shows round-up: Michael Gove says ‘yes’

Michael Gove: The DUP deal is good for the union

The newly installed Environment Secretary Michael Gove took to Andrew Marr’s sofa today to defend the government’s deal with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. Controversial for awarding the province an additional £1 billion, Gove rejected the idea that deal this amounted to a ‘bung’, and argued that far from dividing the country, the ‘confidence and supply’ deal would serve to strengthen the United Kingdom:

Marr: Can we at least determine that there is not going to be another… large about of money paid to the DUP? Because [Sir Nicholas] MacPherson, the former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury said ‘they’ll be back for more’. I think Chris Patten said the same thing – ‘they’ll be back you know!’

Gove: The money doesn’t go to the DUP…

Marr: It goes to their voters. It goes to their voters who then support them.

Gove: It also goes to Sinn Fein voters, it goes to SDLP voters and Alliance voters.