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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/michael-gove-recycle-image-plastic-bottles-green
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| Michael Gove’s latest bid to recycle his image | Michael Gove’s latest bid to recycle his image |
| (6 months later) | |
| It used to be so simple. The relationship between enlightened, progressive folk and Michael Gove was one of straightforward loathing. He was the education secretary who had so enraged parents, pupils and especially teachers that even David Cameron realised he had to be moved out of sight before the Tories dared face the voters in 2015. And that was before Brexit. | It used to be so simple. The relationship between enlightened, progressive folk and Michael Gove was one of straightforward loathing. He was the education secretary who had so enraged parents, pupils and especially teachers that even David Cameron realised he had to be moved out of sight before the Tories dared face the voters in 2015. And that was before Brexit. |
| Plenty of remainers are convinced that, had it not been for the decision of Gove and Boris Johnson to campaign for leave, Brexit would have been defeated, fatally framed as the lost cause of Nigel Farage and the eccentric Tory fringe. Gove particularly gave leave a patina of intellectual respectability: had he not declared for Brexit first, it’s hard to imagine Johnson would have joined Farage alone. | Plenty of remainers are convinced that, had it not been for the decision of Gove and Boris Johnson to campaign for leave, Brexit would have been defeated, fatally framed as the lost cause of Nigel Farage and the eccentric Tory fringe. Gove particularly gave leave a patina of intellectual respectability: had he not declared for Brexit first, it’s hard to imagine Johnson would have joined Farage alone. |
| What’s more, it was Gove who uttered the words that distilled the spirit of populist disdain for facts and evidence, and became a slogan for our post-truth age: “I think that the people of this country have had enough of experts.” For all those reasons, then, Gove is a natural villain for the Guardian-reading classes. And yet, what’s this? Today the secretary of state at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been praised by Greenpeace, WWF and, even if tentatively, by the Green party leader, Caroline Lucas. | What’s more, it was Gove who uttered the words that distilled the spirit of populist disdain for facts and evidence, and became a slogan for our post-truth age: “I think that the people of this country have had enough of experts.” For all those reasons, then, Gove is a natural villain for the Guardian-reading classes. And yet, what’s this? Today the secretary of state at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been praised by Greenpeace, WWF and, even if tentatively, by the Green party leader, Caroline Lucas. |
| The prompt for these plaudits is his decision to introduce across England a deposit scheme for all drinks containers, whether bottles made of plastic or glass or cans. Under the scheme, consumers will pay a penny or two more for each drink they buy, but then receive a cash or voucher when they hand the container back for recycling. Green groups have been demanding this move for years. They have seen the figures from, say, Germany where the scheme has been in place since 2003 and has led to a recycling rate for plastic bottles of 99%, compared with just 43% of the 13bn plastic bottles sold in the UK every year. | The prompt for these plaudits is his decision to introduce across England a deposit scheme for all drinks containers, whether bottles made of plastic or glass or cans. Under the scheme, consumers will pay a penny or two more for each drink they buy, but then receive a cash or voucher when they hand the container back for recycling. Green groups have been demanding this move for years. They have seen the figures from, say, Germany where the scheme has been in place since 2003 and has led to a recycling rate for plastic bottles of 99%, compared with just 43% of the 13bn plastic bottles sold in the UK every year. |
| But today’s green praise for Gove is no one-off. My esteemed colleague George Monbiot has admitted his own shocked admiration for some of Gove’s policy decisions, tweeting last November: “My thoughts about #MichaelGove when he was education secretary were unprintable. But as environment secretary he’s the one spot of light in a terrible government.” | But today’s green praise for Gove is no one-off. My esteemed colleague George Monbiot has admitted his own shocked admiration for some of Gove’s policy decisions, tweeting last November: “My thoughts about #MichaelGove when he was education secretary were unprintable. But as environment secretary he’s the one spot of light in a terrible government.” |
| What Monbiot had in mind that day was Gove’s backing for a total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe, in the light of evidence showing that those neonicotinoids had caused grave damage to colonies of bees. A month later, Monbiot was popping up in the letters column of Private Eye, defending Gove from attack and saying that on the question of soil health, “Gove was right and Private Eye was off with the fairies.” | What Monbiot had in mind that day was Gove’s backing for a total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe, in the light of evidence showing that those neonicotinoids had caused grave damage to colonies of bees. A month later, Monbiot was popping up in the letters column of Private Eye, defending Gove from attack and saying that on the question of soil health, “Gove was right and Private Eye was off with the fairies.” |
| More profound is Gove’s plan to make farming subsidies dependent on recipients providing a public good. From now on, landowners won’t get cash simply for owning land: they will have to prove that they are making a genuine contribution to the environment. That is a serious shift. | More profound is Gove’s plan to make farming subsidies dependent on recipients providing a public good. From now on, landowners won’t get cash simply for owning land: they will have to prove that they are making a genuine contribution to the environment. That is a serious shift. |
| Animal welfare groups have similarly welcomed the moves Gove has made towards a ban on ivory sales, bigger penalties for animal cruelty and the imposition of CCTV in slaughter houses. Environmental groups wish that the proposed ban on all petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040 was accelerated, but they say that, overall, they have come to see Gove as an ally. | Animal welfare groups have similarly welcomed the moves Gove has made towards a ban on ivory sales, bigger penalties for animal cruelty and the imposition of CCTV in slaughter houses. Environmental groups wish that the proposed ban on all petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040 was accelerated, but they say that, overall, they have come to see Gove as an ally. |
| All of this is quite a turnaround. Of course, Gove himself would say there’s no contradiction between his two personas, hate figure and poster boy for the liberal left. He argues that, for example, it’s thanks to Brexit that the UK will soon be able to restrict the live export of animals or ban products that breach UK animal welfare standards. | All of this is quite a turnaround. Of course, Gove himself would say there’s no contradiction between his two personas, hate figure and poster boy for the liberal left. He argues that, for example, it’s thanks to Brexit that the UK will soon be able to restrict the live export of animals or ban products that breach UK animal welfare standards. |
| More deeply, he would say that he remains ideologically consistent – that conservation is, naturally, a conservative ideal. | More deeply, he would say that he remains ideologically consistent – that conservation is, naturally, a conservative ideal. |
| But a more sceptical view is possible. For one thing, as a former journalist, Gove understands the importance of narrative in politics: he has carefully and deliberately cultivated this new green-friendly version of himself. Seasoned Defra-watchers say that many of his headline-grabbing announcements amount to less than meets the eye, either expending little political capital or else avoiding cast-iron commitments. Even this latest bottle deposit scheme is still only at the consultation stage. | But a more sceptical view is possible. For one thing, as a former journalist, Gove understands the importance of narrative in politics: he has carefully and deliberately cultivated this new green-friendly version of himself. Seasoned Defra-watchers say that many of his headline-grabbing announcements amount to less than meets the eye, either expending little political capital or else avoiding cast-iron commitments. Even this latest bottle deposit scheme is still only at the consultation stage. |
| And what might be the purpose of this canny repositioning? Recall that in those crazy post-referendum weeks, Michael Gove knifed his Brexiteer busmate Boris Johnson by offering himself as a candidate for the Tory leadership. That ambition has not evaporated. Gove understands that a Brexiteer admired by usually hostile elements of the left could be quite an enticing prospect for a post-Theresa May Tory party. If Gove is being nice to bees and doing his bit for recycling, it won’t solely be out of concern for the planet’s future – but with an eye on his own. | And what might be the purpose of this canny repositioning? Recall that in those crazy post-referendum weeks, Michael Gove knifed his Brexiteer busmate Boris Johnson by offering himself as a candidate for the Tory leadership. That ambition has not evaporated. Gove understands that a Brexiteer admired by usually hostile elements of the left could be quite an enticing prospect for a post-Theresa May Tory party. If Gove is being nice to bees and doing his bit for recycling, it won’t solely be out of concern for the planet’s future – but with an eye on his own. |
| • Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist | • Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist |
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