Michael Gove thought he had a Jay Rayner ‘gotcha’ moment and it blew up spectacularly in his face
Possibly the most pleasing exchange on Twitter today might come from levelling up tsar Michael Gove (if that’s what he’s still occasionally up to these days) and Observer restaurant critic, writer and presenter Jay Rayner.
It began when the Observer man said this about the government’s current direction of travel, such as it is.
Listening to the new Tory Govt policy announcements, each more desperate than the last, I think it’s fair to say we have reached the ‘Cones Hotline’ stage of this administration.
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) March 29, 2023
And it obviously caught the eye of Gove, who presumably though the had a proper ‘gotcha’ moment to show off in the Commons tea room.
What is it about fixing unsafe buildings, giving tenants in social housing more rights, ending no fault evictions, empowering metro mayors, tackling rogue landlords, extending childcare and new schools for children with special educational needs which is “desperate”? https://t.co/EUBfn5hEy1
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) March 29, 2023
Oooh! There’s no coming back from that, right Mike? Wrong.
You’ve had 13 years to sort all this. Indeed, in 2016 you specifically voted against a bill that would have required landlords to make rented homes fit for human habitation. Why were dangerous homes of the sort that contributed to the death of Awaab Ishak fine by you then? https://t.co/s3CfhszmTF
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) March 29, 2023
Boom.
Answer came there none.
— Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues) March 29, 2023
*waits for the inevitable cry of Jay you should stick to food* even though Jay is absolutely spot on here. (And should always ignore cries like this.)
— sound+fury 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@4soundandfury) March 29, 2023
Last word to @secrettory12.
Thank you for everything you have done for this country, Michael. Nobody in their right mind would deny it is completely unrecognisable from 13 years ago.
— THE SECRET TORY – CBE 🇬🇧 (@secrettory12) March 29, 2023