EU did kill my dad’s business, says Gove
MICHAEL Gove last night stood by his claim that his family’s fishing business had been ‘destroyed’ by the European Union.
The Justice Secretary had said in an emotional interview earlier this month that the fish merchant business had ‘gone to the wall’ as a result of the common fisheries policy, which gives continental nations access to UK waters.
But yesterday The Guardian quoted his father Ernest appearing to contradict the claims by saying there had been no ‘hardship’ and that he had voluntarily sold the business because the fishing industry in Aberdeen was being hit by a range of factors.
Last night Mr Gove insisted this was not the case, as he tore into the newspaper for ‘putting words’ into his 7 -year-old father’s mouth and ‘belittling’ his suffering.
The Aberdeen-based business had been founded by Mr Gove’s grandfather, who in turn passed it on to his father. At its height, EE Gove and Sons employed 20 people to process and smoke fish from the North Sea, including cod and whiting. But in the early 1 80s it went under.
Two weeks ago Mr Gove said during a Sky News debate: ‘I know myself, from my own background. I know the EU depresses employment and destroys jobs.
‘My father had a fishing business in Aberdeen destroyed by the EU and the common fisheries policy.’
But Ernest Gove was quoted by The Guardian as saying the fishing industry had also been hit by competition for space in the port from North Sea oil vessels, the Icelandic cod wars and dockworkers’ strikes.
‘It wasn’t any hardship or things like that,’ he said. ‘I just decided to call it a day and sold up my business and went on to work with someone else.’
But on BBC Question Time last night, Mr Gove stood by his claim, and said The Guardian had tried to get his father to ‘serve their agenda’, adding: ‘My dad was rung up by a reporter who tried to put words into his mouth.
‘But my dad has been clear – he was clear to the BBC on Sunday night, he was clear to me when I was a boy – that the business that he invested so much care and time in had to close as a result of the common fisheries policy.’
He added: ‘I know what my dad went through when I was a schoolboy and I don’t think that The Guardian or anyone else should belittle his suffering or try to get a 7 -year-old man to serve their agenda instead of agreeing and being proud of what his son does.’
After being alerted to story in The Guardian, Mr Gove’s father released a statement saying: ‘I don’t know what this reporter is going on about.
‘Everybody in the north east knows it was Europe that did such damage to the fish trade. The common fisheries policy was a disaster, not just for Aberdeen, but all of Scotland. There wasn’t any future for my business. It closed as a direct result of Europe.’
Ernest Gove is the Justice Secretary’s adoptive father. He was born in Edinburgh but at four months old adopted by Mr Gove and his wife Christine in Aberdeen.