Gove over
“OUR writers have no party line; their only allegiance is to clarity of thought, elegance of expression and independence of opinion.”
So reads The Spectator’s About page, appropriately for a magazine that prides itself on being a standard bearer for press freedom and inquisitive, probing journalism.
How, then, does one reconcile this with the appointment of Michael Gove – a leading figure in one of the most censorious governments of modern British history – as its editor?
Under Gove's watch as Cabinet Office Minister, the Counter Disinformation Unit was stood up. Held out as a special unit to monitor ‘disinformation narratives’, subsequent public investigations – notably that carried out by Big Brother Watch – revealed that in reality, this secretive unit was a turbo-charged snooping and censorship swat team, its scope and impact almost unprecedented in modern day Britain.
Far from being bystanders, Gove’s Cabinet Office played a key role in this shady operation. …
The rest of this article features in our September 2024 print issue, available to subscribers.