One consequence of David Cameron’s refusal to take part in any ‘Blue on Blue’ debates is that he and Michael Gove are appearing several days apart on BBC Question Time. Tonight, it was Gove’s turn to face the studio audience.
In reply to the first question, Gove made clear that—in the event of Britain voting to leave—he wouldn’t support the so-called ‘punishment Budget’ that George Osborne set out today. Gove said that the Remain campaign were ‘turning it up to 11’ on the scare stories as polling day approached. Though, interestingly, he studiously avoided any personal criticism of Osborne.
With the polls tightening the Remainers are getting more passionate, and Gove faced some fairly hostile questions from the audience. He was pressed on the risks of leaving and said that there would be ‘bumps along the way’. But he emphasised that there would be there if Britain stayed in too, and outside Britain would be better placed to respond to them.
But, perhaps, the most hostile question came from a Spanish immigrant who said ‘I feel so offended’ by Gove’s desire to control EU immigration into Britain. Gove responded that he was in favour of migration, but just wanted to manage it. The woman refused to accept this. Gove’s moderate manner and language meant that the exchange did not escalate in the way that it could have.
The most emotional moment of the debate came when Gove talked about how the EU had hit his father’s fishing business. David Dimbleby confronted him with a Guardian story which involves an interview with Gove’s father which it says disputes Michael Gove’s account. A clearly emotional Gove accused the Guardian of putting words in his father’s mouth and said that they shouldn’t be using a 79 year old man to advance their agenda. Indeed, if you read the whole Guardian piece it is clear that Gove senior thinks that entry into the EEC had a very negative impact on the whole fishing industry in the north east of Scotland. There is something rather distasteful about the way in which some in the IN campaign are trying to jump on this story.
Those on the IN campaign hoping for a slip from Gove that would halt the Leave campaign’s momentum will be disappointed this evening. But the hostile nature of the audience meant that Gove found it harder to set out his case than he had on Sky News’ version of the same event. However, when Gove ended by saying that Britain will be stronger, fairer and freer post-Brexit and a progressive beacon to the world, he was met by cheers. We now wait to see how Cameron handles the Question Time audience.
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