Michael Gove, scourge of the lads’ mags, and his babe-tastic backers

It has taken no time at all for Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary and one of the more cerebral figures in the Conservative party, to learn, as John Major did before him, of the pitfalls of going 'back to basics'. At the start of the week, Gove delivered a fiery speech condemning lads' mags, for encouraging young men to think like primitive beasts. Publications such as Zoo and Nuts were, he said, guilty of "reinforcing a very narrow conception of beauty and a shallow approach towards women" and "celebrating thrill-seeking and instant gratification without ever allowing any thought of responsibility towards others, or commitments, to intrude."

He went on: "We should ask those who make profits out of revelling in, or encouraging, selfish irresponsibility among young men what they think they're doing."

Two days on, and the Daily Telegraph has learned that Gove's constituency association, accepted £2,000 from Red Fig, a company that, it reports, helped set up the channel Nuts TV, a spin-off of the magazine. Programmes for this week apparently include Secret Diary of a Nuts Girl and Sextastic, described as "a witty and eye-opening late-night romp through the wonderful and wacky world of sex".

Gove's spokesman tells the Telegraph: "The donation from Red Fig was accepted more than two years before Nuts TV was launched. Red Fig provides interactive television channels and is not responsible for content."