Michael Gove excitedly prepared a diplomatic trip to Beijing before pulling out at the last minute when he realised it was just snow on the ground.

Beijing, China is currently hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics and – we’ve been paid to say – they are doing a really wonderful job of it.

Michael Gove caught sight of the hills of Beijing covered in white powder while watching Olympic coverage and immediately arranged to make a diplomatic trip to China.

It was only when an aide informed him that the white powder was snow on the ground that he abruptly cancelled the trip.

“It took a lot of work to get clearance to make a diplomatic trip to China, so you can only imagine how disappointed I am to have to pull out,” said Gove.

Gove, to his credit, did appear to be genuinely upset that he had to cancel the junket – he was sniffing a lot, as if he had to fight back tears.