Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Test for me but not for thee: UK’s Gove under fire as daughter skips virus-test queue

Test for me but not for thee: UK’s Gove under fire as daughter skips virus-test queue

UK Cabinet minister Michael Gove is under fire after his daughter was granted permission to skip the coronavirus testing queue, in the latest example of there being one rule for the powerful and another for everyone else.

Gove’s 17-year-old daughter began showing mild symptoms on April 5, and the family received special permission from Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty to have her tested the following day, along with orders to stay indoors for a period of 14 days.

The teenager’s results later came back negative, but the incident was yet another example of the rich and powerful appearing to jump to the top of the queue while the wider public is told that only the most vulnerable and most at-risk were being tested for the time being.

“I will have reservations about it being one rule for some and another for everyone else. Those tests are obviously in short supply,” Gove’s opposite number in the Shadow cabinet, Rachel Reeves said.

The backlash wasn’t limited to the political realm; many took to social media to slam Gove for the double standards. “Why was he able to get a test for his daughter to allow him back to work - when so many health workers can’t?” broadcaster Piers Morgan asked, while sports journalist Konstantinos Lianos added: “Such a shame that all those heroic NHS frontline workers, that saved the Prime Minister's life, are not related to Michael Gove.”



The UK currently has over 89,500 confirmed cases and its virus-related death toll stands at 11,347. On Friday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the UK was on target to reach 100,000 tests per day by the end of April, yet Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles were both tested as soon as the Prince of Wales, 71, began showing symptoms. Thousands of NHS workers and sick Britons had been and continue to be denied access.

Tests are only to be administered if patients “have a serious illness that requires admission to hospital.” While both Charles and Camilla are both over 70 years of age, placing them in an at-risk demographic, neither are believed to have any serious underlying health conditions.


“From the information I have been given it was clear he was tested for clinical reasons,” Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood said.

However, it is not just the politically powerful or indeed royalty that have been criticized for skipping the queue at a time of international crisis. Everyone, from actors Daniel Dae Kim and Idris Elba to NBA star Kevin Durant, along with the entire roster of the Brooklyn Nets, managed to get coronavirus tests on-demand.

The Nets are owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. billionaire Joe Tsai, who arranged for tests using a private lab called Viracor Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics; four players, including Durant, tested positive.

Soon after, the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics all secured testing for their players, despite their rosters being asymptomatic.

“An entire NBA team should not get tested for Covid-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested. Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time.

Heidi Klum and Kris Jenner also announced their negative test results, showing that enough fame and fortune can get you early access, even at the most trying times for humanity.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×