Always fun to read one of Michael Gove’s speeches. Also fun to compare the speech to the government’s actual behaviour:

1. Gove says civil servants don’t use statistics enough. But when they do, Robert Jenrick ignores them.

2. Gove calls for fewer dramatic policy announcements. Compare that to the Test and Trace app https://www.ft.com/content/9446192a-aff1-4e95-93fb-a5adfbc7bbd5

3. Gove's priorities include fighting climate change and racial inequalities. The Committee on Climate Change said the last year had been largely wasted. And has the government accepted Lammy Review recommendations?

4. Gove wants specialist civil servants who don’t move about. I just checked the news and the national security advisor has been sacked.

5. Boris Johnson himself is cited as thinking our diplomats don’t understand foreign countries' history. Is this the same Boris who had to be told by an ambassador to stop reciting Kipling in Myanmar?

6. Gove talks about rigorously evaluating government spending. So is there a review into the Test and Trace app? Meanwhile Dfid, a world leader in effective overseas aid, is being scrapped.

A couple of final points:

- the set-up for all this is the populist backlash of Brexit and Trump. But it’s not 2016 now. What happens if Biden wins in November?

- this line on US independence is entertaining. But will it be as entertaining for unionists like Gove when Nicola Sturgeon quotes it back at them?

- the coronavirus pandemic is an interesting time to talk up US governors as "public policy innovators". Hello, Texas.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading speech. That said, it looks mainly like a prelude to blaming the civil service for the UK's pandemic response.

Speech is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-privilege-of-public-service-given-as-the-ditchley-annual-lecture. More politicians should set out their thinking like this.

This thread is also worth reading: https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1277180751210000385.