Gove, who is from Aberdeen, pulled out his best Scouse accent and a brief American twang while telling people to ‘calm down’ about the lack of financial support in the autumn Budget.
The cabinet minister was being quizzed live on air about the Queen’s Speech, which has been criticised by Labour for not containing enough measures to help people as the cost of living rockets.
Michael Gove appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning to dismiss rumours of an emergency budget
Gove ruled out suggestions that the Government could hold an emergency budget to tackle rising costs.
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He whipped out a crude impersonation of comedian Harry Enfield’s The Scousers sketches, saying ‘calm down’ in a Liverpool accent.
He also impersonated an American news reader when he said that some commentators were turning things into a ‘major capital letters big news story’.
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Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove adopts various accents as he denies split between Boris Johnson and the Treasury on how to tackle cost of livinghttps://t.co/gf3zoqZYuVpic.twitter.com/gan7kPs88c
Angela Rayner has blasted Gove’s speech, saying: “Is the cost of living crisis just a joke to them? This is not a serious Government. We need an Emergency Budget right now.
“People need real help, right now. But all this Government can give is a ventriloquist’s dummy.”
MP Nadia Whittome echoed that, writing: “Here’s Michael Gove mocking people asking for more support during the cost of living crisis. A report today said 1.5 million households across the UK will struggle to pay food and energy bills over the next year, but this is all a big joke to the Tories.”
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Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn commented: “Michael Gove doing his absolute best to confirm that he could not care less about the cost of living crisis.”
The parody account for Prime Minster Boris Johnson wrote: “Product Recall: This is a recall notice for all Michael Gove 1967 models. A potentially hazardous malfunction has developed, leading to random comedy accents. If you have a Michael Gove please leave it in a secure place and notify us immediately.”
Someone else asked: “Is Michael Gove drunk?”
One person said: “How many regions of this country did Michael Gove just insult.”
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And someone else simply put: “The Michael Gove interview is f***ing bizarre.”
Featured image: BBC Breakfast
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Beloved Manchester artist Stanley Chow slams Conservative Party for using his artwork
Daisy Jackson
Celebrated local artist Stanley Chow has lashed out at the Conservative Party.
The illustrator, who is famed for his cartoon portraits of famous faces, has discovered that the political party have been using his Andy Burnham illustration at their party conference.
Publicly addressing the usage, Stanley said he would be ‘seeking legal advice’.
He shared a photo of his Andy Burnham portrait that has been placed onto a water bottle with the slogan ‘Bottler Burnham’.
The label also says: “0% strength. Bottled under pressure from Badenoch.”
In another photo, Stanley Chow revealed that the Tory party conference has used his Andy Burnham portrait on pots of sweets, too.
This time, they say: “Andy Panders’ people pleaser pick n mix. Free sweets for everyone, it will only cost you higher taxes.”
Stanley wrote: “It seems like @conservatives have been using my artwork without my permission at their conference party…
“Regardless of whatever your political allegiances are, it’s still copyright infringement… I’ll be seeking legal advice.”
Backing him up in the comments are a number of other local artists, including Mancsy, who said: “As well as the copyright infringement, I expect more of political parties than making gags at the expense of the opposition. It’s alarming on multiple levels.”
Someone else wrote: “Imagine calling a prime minister a people pleaser like it’s an insult… when it’s their job.”
Another person said: “How does that even happen?! Layers of people signing off who go, ‘Sure, let’s not worry about copyright’ (people who’ve presumably never step foot in MCR and seen your artwork, like EVERYWHERE). Drag em, babe. Copyright and reputation, surely.”
Manchester man jailed after sexually assaulting and masturbating in front of woman on train
Emily Sergeant
A man has been jailed after sexually assaulting and masturbating in front of a woman on board a train to Manchester.
Following an extensive British Transport Police (BTP) investigation, Nisan Fernando Kurukulasuriya, of Troutbeck Road in Altrincham, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court last month.
At the trail last month, the court heard how, on Monday 20 April 2026, 39-year-old Kurukulasuriya was on a train from Stoke to Manchester and sat next to a woman he didn’t know, who was on the phone.
He then sexually assaulted her repeatedly, doing so again even after being pushed away by the woman.
The woman then noticed that Kurukulasuriya had exposed himself and was masturbating in front of her. She shouted at him, and in response, he stood up and ran away to leave the train – but the woman immediately got up to report the incident to staff.
When the train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly, the woman alerted a member of staff while Kurukulasuriya was stood only a few meters away, and BTP were subsequently called straight away.
Police quickly attended and arrested Kurukulasuriya.
When police interviewed him, Kurukulasuriya showed no remorse for his actions and refused to answer any questions put to him.
After pleading guilty to Sexual Assault and Outraging Public Decency at a previous court hearing, Kurukulasuriya was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, and was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which will bar him from sitting next to any woman he doesn’t know on public transport, as well as being put on thensex offenders register for 10 years.
BTP Detective Sergeant, Mark Haviland, called Kurukulasuriya a ‘despicable man’ who targeted a woman travelling alone ‘for his own sick sexual gratification’.
Daisy Jackson -
11th May 2022 
