Michael Gove appears to ditch government pledge to build 300k homes per year May 11, 2022 Downing Street has sought to shrug off comments from the housing minister seeming to suggest the government had scrapped its home-building targets. Michael Gove suggested the government is no longer committed to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s, tearing up a Conservative party manifesto pledge. In an interview with Mishal Husain on [...]
Michael Gove: There won’t be an emergency budget to tackle the cost of living crisis May 11, 2022 Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has insisted there will not be an emergency budget to deal with the cost of living crisis. The minister made his comments on Sky News this morning after the prime minister told the Commons yesterday, that Rishi Sunak would be “saying more” on the UK’s response to rising inflation and [...]
Row erupts as new London arena dubbed ‘enormous glowing blight’ gets planning approval March 23, 2022 A row has erupted over a new music venue branded an “enormous glowing blight” which has now been granted planning permission. The MSG Sphere in Stratford at the site of the 2012 Olympics got approval from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) today, despite more than a thousand complaints from residents about the 21,000-seater arena. [...]
‘Levelling up’ under fire for failing to help jobseekers February 21, 2022 Michael Gove’s levelling up strategy has come under fire for failing to support “the most vulnerable in society”. It comes after the Independent reported a two-year wait for government cash to help people into work after it was announced that replacement job schemes would only be funded “from 2024-25”. The paper reported last year that [...]
FCA requested to review buildings insurers as Gove says leaseholders hit with ‘rapidly escalating’ costs January 28, 2022 The financial services regulator has been requested to review the buildings insurance market for blocks of flats. In a letter to the regulator, housing minister Micheal Gove said he was “extremely concerned” to hear from leaseholders about their experience of “rapidly escalating” insurance premiums on high and medium-rise blocks. There have been cases where insurance [...]
Emergency text to BBC chairman: Michael Gove’s efforts to ‘level up’ hit a snag after getting trapped in lift for half an hour January 10, 2022 Michael Gove’s efforts to “level up” hit a snag after he was trapped in a BBC lift for more than 30 minutes. The Communities Secretary was touring studios to explain his plan to tackle the cladding scandal when the mishap occurred. BBC presenter Nick Robinson told listeners: “We’ve had breaking news this morning that W1A [...]
Cladding campaigners call for financial aid to cover remediation of other fire hazards January 9, 2022 Cladding campaigners have called on ministers to do more to help leaseholders of unsafe buildings facing “ruinous debts”. Housing minister Michael Gove is expected to announce tomorrow that leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18.5m in height will no longer be forced to take out personal loans to cover the cost of removing dangerous cladding. [...]
Michael Gove urged to explain why £330,000 was spent on fixing driveway of Tory peer Lord Gage December 30, 2021 Michael Gove is urged to explain accusations his department approved £330,000 to fund pothole repairs on the driveway of a former Tory peer. The public money was spent fixing a track leading to Charleston Farmhouse, an independently-run museum and art gallery within the grounds of a country estate owned by the 87-year-old aristocrat Lord Gage, [...]
2021’s lighter political moments: From Michael Gove’s dance moves and Britain’s chief mouser to the hunt for Irn-Bru December 26, 2021 From the rags-to-riches tale of Britain’s chief mouser to a hunt for Irn-Bru at COP26, even in the midst of a global pandemic there have been some lighter moments in politics during this long and challenging year. ‘Church warden overslept’ On May 6, local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales but some voters [...]
Gove the gardener: Are plans for a Tulip tower in London set to bloom again? October 17, 2021 Tulip fever is heading to London, with housing secretary Michael Gove tipped to overule London mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to squash plans for a flower-inspired skyscraper in the City. Gove is expected to give the plans for a 300m tower the OK, the Telegraph reported, which would overturn Khan’s 2019 decision against the Tulip. At [...]