‘Sadistic’ Gove told: Stop plots or let in Starmer
Downing Street aide takes aim at rebellion ‘ringleader’ over his attacks on Liz Truss
THE feud between Liz Truss and Michael Gove intensified last night as an ally of the Prime Minister called her rival a ‘sadist’ who risked ushering in a Labour Government.
Ms Truss met Mr Gove for ‘peace talks’ before last week’s Tory Conference and floated the idea of giving him a senior diplomatic job. But Mr Gove went on to lead a revolt against the Prime Minister’s plan to cut the 45p top tax rate, forcing her into a climbdown.
Today Mr Gove’s exCabinet colleague Nadine Dorries tells Ms Truss his act of rebellion means he should ‘stay out in the cold’. The former Culture Secretary has outlined a ‘desperate’ plan for Ms Truss to ‘reverse the self-harm Conservative MPs have inflicted upon our party’ – and says: ‘Michael’s days are over.’
Explaining how the Prime Minister tried to mollify Mr Gove before conference, a source said: ‘In the name of unity, the PM asked Michael to meet for tea.
‘Mr Gove praised the PM’s energy package and told Liz how much he admired her. The PM asked Michael whether he was interested in a Government role.
Michael took a few days to mull over things then went to Birmingham and stabbed the PM in the back.’
It is understood Ms Truss was hinting that Mr Gove could be in line for a senior diplomatic role in a Middle Eastern country such as Israel or the United Arab Emirates, although Mr Gove didn’t take the hint.
A No10 aide said: ‘It was the right thing to do, to invite him in. Michael asked for Liz’s advice and she told him to enjoy himself. Michael clearly gets his kicks in a sadistic way.’
But a friend of Mr Gove said: ‘He made clear his opposition to scrapping the 45p tax rate, which he had already told his whip. It is heartening that the PM now agrees that the cut is the wrong priority.
‘Michael believes cutting taxes for the richest during a cost of living crisis is indefensible. No job offer was made.’
The revelations come as senior Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi warns that plotters are paving the way for a Labour Government led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Mr Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, says: ‘Those plotting against the Prime Minister are helping to usher in a Labour Government.
‘I do wonder what they think they are achieving by trying to undermine a Conservative Government that is supporting people through an energy crisis.
‘Conservative MPs should be supporting the leader of the Conservative Party, not working against her.’
After another turbulent
‘Gove praised PM’s energy package’ ‘Back PM or nation goes down the drain’
week for Ms Truss’s Government:
● Tory MPs are drawing up plans behind Boris Johnson’s back for him to be parachuted back in as Prime Minister in the spring if the Tories are still more than 20 points behind in the polls;
● Leading rebels such as ex-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps are planning a ‘hyena strategy’ of weakening Ms Truss by forcing ‘U-turn after U-turn’;
● Tensions between the Government and the Bank of England were mounting over Ms Truss’s conference pledge to cut EU red tape and recriminations over the Bank’s £65billion support for the markets following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget.
Mr Gove yesterday told the Financial Times that while ‘daring audacity is required in politics’, it was ‘not a time for gambling’.
A senior No10 source hit back, saying: ‘Our lot need to get behind Liz or they’ll end up with the nightmare coalition of Labour and the SNP, which would break up the country and send it down the drain.
‘The PM has the right plan to get our economy motoring and build the post-Brexit Britain people voted for.’