Loath though Grumpy is  to borrow one of Mr Trump’s epithets, he feels that after a broadcast by Michael Gove on the Today Program on 19.04, “lyin'” is the only accurate description of  certain of his statements in an interview.

Gove, whose career seems to have taken progressive steps downwards since the Department of Education, is probably bored at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); the simple fact is that there is very little to do there, since more or less every aspect of  its activities is determined in Brussels.

To give some illusion of usefulness, he has now announced a consultation (as opposed to action) on plastic drinking straws and other minor items (hardly world shaking stuff) , but the pinnacle of his political  career at DEFRA  thus far has concerned plastic shopping bags, in that it was an ‘action’ as opposed to a ‘consultation’ (oh, how managing such trivia must  sting…). It is on this topic that this post is concerned.

To the point: Lyin’ Gove repeatedly stated in the interview (available on www.bbc.co.uk) that he had introduced a  ban on plastic bags.  In fact there is no ban on plastic bags; there is charge per bag in the UK levied by all shops with more than 250 employees, this charge going to the shop. It is inconceivable that the Minister in charge of DEFRA was somehow under the illusion that he had introduced a ban.   Hence, it must be concluded that Gove deliberately lied repeatedly on National Radio, presumably with the goal of making himself sound more positive having just been lambasted by the interviewer for merely setting up a consultation (the old ‘long grass’ ploy) on straws.

What is galling is that Gove chose to make these untrue statements betting that they wouldn’t be picked up by either the interviewer or listener. To do that sort of lyin’ requires a certain type of arrogance and disdain for electors. ‘BAD!!!!’, as Trump would tweet.