‘Valuable addition!’ Michael Gove slams calls for GB News to be shut down

In reference to a call to shut down the channel by ex-Sky presenter Adam Boulton, Gove said: “GB News is a valuable addition to what I think some people have called the broadcasting ecology.”

Speaking to Camilla Tominey at Tory Party conference in Manchester, the Surrey Heath MP added: “People should have more choice. There should be more voices.

WATCH NOW: Michael Gove chimes in on GB News shut down calls

“Yes, there'll be people on GB News who will say things that are offensive, there are people at the BBC who have said things that are offensive, and indeed on other channels as well.

“GB News is great. The more people who tune in and hear you, Camilla, Chris Hope and others, the better.”

Gove also told Tominey that he patched up relations with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a “social event” a few weeks ago.

The 56-year-old has previously been accused of torpedoing Johnson’s 2016 Tory leadership bid by throwing his hat into the ring and ultimately handing victory to Theresa May.

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Debate about the future of the People’s Channel was sparked following a row involving Laurence Fox.

Fox and Dan Wootton were suspended from GB News pending an internal investigation after the actor-turned-aspiring-politician made an on-air rant about a female journalist.

Calvin Robinson was suspended shortly afterwards when he expressed his support for Wootton.

A number of commentators and MPs called for GB News to be shut down following Fox’s remarks.

Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who appeared on the People’s Channel nine times and was paid £6,300 by rival network TalkTV over six months earlier this year, said: “I think [GB News] should be taken off air.”

Boulton added: “I think there is a delicate and important broadcast ecology in this country. I think GB News is trying to bust that ecology, and frankly, what Ofcom should do is shut it down.”

However, Gove is not the only prominent politician to speak out against those calling for GB News to be shut down.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis, who contested the 2005 Tory leadership election against eventual Prime Minister David Cameron, said: “It is alarming to see calls for GB News to be shut down in the wake of Laurence Fox's comments.

“Those pushing for it clearly lack any comprehension of free speech.”

Spectator columnist Brendan O’Neil added: “We cannot let that liberty go down in the flames of Fox's GB News career.”