People living within a 25-mile radius of Michael Gove, MP, are more likely to die of cirrhosis of the liver and alcohol-related tumours than anywhere else in the country. There is a direct correlation between (fairly) close proximity to Michael and very high levels of alcohol consumption. A study carried out by researchers from the Liverpool John Moores University discovered that five of Britain’s most alcohol-saturated areas were congregated around Michael’s constituency in Surrey Heath. The only one that wasn’t nearby was Harrogate, in North Yorkshire — and just a cursory check through the clippings shows that Michael delivered a speech there to the Chartered Institute of Housing, in which he was critical of the government’s house-building policy. So, now that we have uncovered the correlation, we must decide what to do about it. The humane answer would be to relocate Michael to a place where his baleful, drink-inducing aura will be of the least danger to human life — Gruinard Island, in the north-west of Scotland, for example, which has recently been pronounced entirely free of anthrax.

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