Facts
In February 2022, Oliver Dowden, at the time a senior Conservative Minister, gave a speech on “cancel culture” to the Conservative American think tank, Heritage Foundation.
In the speech he stated that neither the UK or the US “can afford the luxury of indulging in this painful woke psychodrama”.
In a Sky News interview on 3 August 2023 Oliver Dowden, now Deputy Prime Minister, was asked what he made of “Trump’s drama”, to which he responded “the democratic processes of the United States of America are entirely a matter for the people of the United States and you wouldn’t expect a government minister to comment on that.”
We emailed Oliver Dowden’s parliamentary office and the Cabinet Office offering them the chance to respond. The email to his parliamentary office was received, but no reply.
Verdict
Oliver Dowden invoked “democratic processes of the United States of America” to avoid giving an opinion on Donald Trump. A year earlier, he was happy to share his views about the “woke psychodrama” on the dubious grounds that Britain and the United States are “joined by the same fundamental values”.
We emailed Oliver Dowden’s parliamentary office and the Cabinet Office offering them the chance to respond. The email to his parliamentary office was received, but no reply.