When Farage said of Gove: ‘I owe Michael one for that’

My old friend Tom Fairbrother has drawn my attention to a passage in Nigel Farage’s memoirs, Fighting Bull, in which the Ukip leader expresses his gratitute to Michael Gove.

Mr Gove is one of the senior Tories Nigel Farage always says he could do business with (in contrast to David Cameron).

It all dates back to 1999 when Ukip were contesting the European elections. Farage was in dispute with The Times newspaper over an article which claimed that Ukip and Farage had links with the BNP.

Farage relates: “I did something which I have never done before, something which was against my nature. I called the famous libel solicitors Carter-Ruck and appealed for the protection of the law against allegations without substance.

“Even as we celebrated our election victory, Carter-Ruck were locked in a battle with Rupert Murdoch and News International which could easily have escalated into a bloody – and bloody ruinous – war.”

Farage continues: “It was Michael Gove, a Times columnist who has since become a Tory MP, who stepped between these two pawing and snorting herd-bulls and insisted that his newspaper end the deadlock. I owe Michael one for that. An apology was duly printed (at the bottom of page two) and the whole business closed.”

So if, sometime towards the end of this decade, Michael Gove becomes leader of the Conservative Party, and we then suddenly see an electoral pact between the Tories and Ukip, we will all know why.

Just Mr Farage settling an old debt.