Michael Gove goes to war with fake news as he warns social media 'corrupts and distorts' politics

Michael Gove has warned social media "corrupts" and "distorts" political decision-making as he launched an attack on fake news in the wake of a row about animal sentience.

The environment secretary  said people should "stand up against" fake reporting after campaigners claimed the Government voted against a clause citing animals are capable of feeling emotion and pain. 

Speaking after days of furious reaction to a newspaper report on the subject, Mr Gove warned that people should ignore false reports and turn instead to the transcript of Parliamentary debates or the BBC. 

Earlier in the week animal rights campaigners and celebrities on Twitter called for Tory MPs to back down amid claims they blocked the inclusion of a clause protecting animal sentience in new Brexit legislation. 

But Mr Gove said there would be no break in protection for animals and vowed instead to toughen up EU laws around puppy farming and transport of animals after the UK leaves the bloc. 

He said: "On social media there was a suggestion that somehow MPs had voted against the principle that animals are sentient beings. That did not happen."

Asked about the row Mr Gove hit out at fake reporting for "unfairly representing the Government's position". 

He said there is an "unhappy trend now for people to believe the raw authentic voice of social media is more reliable than what is said in Hansard or on the BBC".

And he added: "We have got to stand up against the way in which social media corrupts and distorts both reporting and decision making."

In a written ministerial statement yesterday Mr Gove confronted confusion around Article 13, which prompted claims that the Government was attempting to water down animal protections. 

He said: "Once we have left the EU there is even more we could do. EU rules prevent us from restricting or banning the live export of animals for slaughter. 

"EU rules also restrict us from cracking down on puppy smuggling or banning the import of puppies under 6 months. 

"Article 13 has not stopped any of these practices – but leaving the EU gives us the chance to do much better. We hope to say more in these areas next year."

He has previously said he is “very attracted to the idea” of banning ”the live export of animals over the sea”.

Mr Gove also vowed yesterday to make “any necessary changes” to UK law after Brexit to recognise that animals can feel pain, after concerns were raised over a parliamentary vote against transferring EU rules on animal welfare into British law. 

Mr Gove insisted that it was "not a vote against the idea that animals are sentient and feel pain".

The amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which would have transferred the EU protocol on animal sentience, so that animals are still recognised as sentient beings under domestic law, was voted down last week.

In a written ministerial statement, Mr Gove said the Withdrawal Bill was not the right place to address the issue and the vote was a "rejection of a faulty amendment" that would not have achieved its aim of providing appropriate protection.

He added that the Government will ensure that necessary changes to UK law as the country leaves the European Union are made in "a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised".

Asked by the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme whether he agreed with Theresa May's plan to agree more money as part of Britain's Brexit divorce bill he replied: "I think the Prime Minister has the right negotiating stance, she's the right negotiator, I know she will get the best possible deal for Britain."