Fantasist politicians like Michael Gove have damaged this country

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The damage is likely to take a government of a different colour a long time to repair (PA)

I refer to Tom Peck’s accurate appreciation of Michael Gove. There is a gulf in consequence between “success” in an Oxford Union undergraduate debate, where untruths may or may not win the argument and the day, and the outcomes of the same formula applied to the process of government where the effects of a decision are real and can last for years.

Winning the “argument” by deceit (ably assisted by actively compliant sections of the media) has been demonstrated to have profound and adverse consequences for the UK, both nationally and internationally.

It is not Gove alone who bears responsibility, but Peck’s observation that he “banjaxed his country’s economy in a paroxysm of Spitfire nationalism" is bang on target. Unfortunately, his party provides many similar examples.