GOVE'S WIPE-OFF
Michael Gove tries to brush off cocaine-snorting scandal as he’s pictured with embarrassing ‘white mark’
COKE-SHAME Michael Gove desperately tried to brush off his drugs scandal by declaring “we are all sinners in a fallen world”.
The wannabe PM said his drugs past showed his “human frailty” and should not lock him out of No10.
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Mr Gove, who was pictured yesterday with what looked embarrassingly like a white mark under his nose told business leaders: “All of us will occasionally fall short in our lives. But that doesn’t mean the principle is wrong.”
He risked reigniting his feud with Boris Johnson by hinting that he does not have the attention to detail needed to be leader.
And he compared himself to Tory icon Margaret Thatcher as he made a fresh pitch for power.
He told business chiefs in London: “Just because someone has made a mistake, if they have fallen from high standards, that doesn’t mean we should then lower standards.
“It just means that you have succumbed, as we all do from time to time, to human frailty.”
He added: “We are all sinners in a fallen world.”
Mr Gove is in the political battle of his life to keep his leadership bid alive after it emerged he snorted coke while a journalist in his 30s.
The bombshell revelation has rocked Westminster and threatens to torpedo his bid for power.
Michael Gove admits taking cocaine as would-be PM reveals ‘deep regret’ over drug past
SIN IT TO WIN
Speaking at The Times CEO summit, Mr Gove insisted he is not planning to pull out of the race.
And comparing himself to Mrs Thatcher, he said: “She was a former education secretary, people said she was too divisive and was too interested in ideas.
“It seems that Margaret Thatcher wasn’t fazed by that.”
He slammed Mr Johnson’s middle class tax cut as “insane”.
Asked if Mr Johnson has the attention to detail and discipline needed to be PM, he said: “We will find out during this race.”
While he took a swipe at the frontrunner’s claim only he has the track record of beating Labour in elections.
He said: “You can make a judgement on somebody’s electability.
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“But if somebody is Prime Minister the British public look afresh at any new Prime Minister.”
Although he said that Mr Johnson should not be judged on his colourful relationship history.
He said: “I think Boris and all the other candidates should be judged solely on the ideas they have put forward.”
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