Michael Gove says he has driven 'on occasion' to test his eyesight

26 May 2020, 8:31 | Updated: 29 May 2020, 11:47

By EJ Ward

Michael Gove told LBC he had driven to check his eyesight, but he was "not an authority on driving" as it had taken him seven times to pass his test.

When Nick Ferrari put it to Cabinet Minister Michael Gove that Dominic Cumming's Land Rover would not have the petrol capacity to get to and from Durham, the minister said he thought he "bought diesel on the way back."

Nick said "so, then he would have risked infecting other people?"

But Mr Gove denied this, "because by the time he drove back he was no longer infectious," and he said that the Prime Minister's senior adviser had received medical advice by this point.

The questions come after Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's most senior adviser took a controversial trip to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown.

During a press conference in the Downing Street garden, Mr Cummings said he had taken a "short drive" with his wife and child to Barnard Castle because his eyesight had been affected by the disease his wife did not want to risk the long drive back to London so they went on a "short drive" to Barnard Castle.

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The LBC presenter questioned Mr Gove if he would have gone "on a 60-mile round trip to test your eyesight?"

"I have, on occasions in the past, driven with my wife in order to make sure, what's the right way of putting it," Mr Gove said.

Nick Ferrari said he was "staggered," suggesting he did not know how the Government minister was "going to be able to get out of this one."

The Minister shot back the "people who know me would know that I am not an authority on driving."

He added he was "not the best person in the world to ask detailed questions about driving."

"I merely asked you if you've ever been on a 60-mile round trip to test your eyesight and you said you had," an incredulous Nick said.

The Minister clarified the point he was "seeking to make" was that he is "not an authority on driving" as "someone who took seven attempts to pass their driving test, I'm not going to pass judgement on other people's driving."

Watch the whole interview below