IT didn’t take long for Michael Gove’s new touchy-feely mask to slip. Only a few days ago he was proclaiming his support for saving the planet and our vital bee population, striking a pose as a nice, caring Tory. But his true colours shone through on the Marr show this past Sunday as he sought to defend his erstwhile friend and colleague, Boris Johnson, over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman trapped in jail in Iran.

This horrifying lack of compassion for a joint UK-Iranian citizen unfairly incarcerated in a foreign country was almost impossible to comprehend in its casual cruelty.

Theresa May, Boris Johnson and now Gove have reneged on a centuries-old promise of governmental protection for British nationals abroad.

They should be doing everything in their power to get this distraught mother back to her family. But even with the nation watching on in disbelief, Gove backed up Boris, because when push comes to shove, self-interest will always prevail for Gove and his like.

Although small in stature, he knows his strength in the pack lies in his ability to intellectualise and examine all the options available to enhance his hand.

As the alpha males bump heads in the corridors of power, wrestling control from May, they care little for what happens to innocents in their way.

It is their egos that are driving the country into the Brexit abyss, into economic disaster and world isolation. It’s more important for the Environment Secretary to back up the Foreign Secretary than to help Nazanin’s cause because, ultimately, Gove needs Johnson, like a human need oxygen.

It is because of this duplicity that I find it so hard to see Gove as a caring environmentalist. Not that long ago he was cosying up to Trump in an interview that made the nation’s skin crawl, all overseen by the arch manipulator Rupert Murdoch.

And we all know how Trump feels about climate change. It’s easier to choose your favourite baddie in the Star Wars trilogy than pick the most benign member of that terrifying trio.

However, in the interests of fairness, I feel I ought to point out that Gove has since been very critical of the president’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. He has reaffirmed his commitment to a “green Brexit”, talking of the importance of “international cooperation” to prevent global devastation through countries like the US refusing to regulate their carbon emissions.

This is all admirable stuff, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that politicians like Gove are always working on another agenda, a parallel plan that only he knows the true extent of, with him as top dog.

And it’s easy to make wild promises and pledges on policies that you know you may never have to implement, just to look like the good cop to your party’s bad. Does anyone remember that £350m pledge painted on the side of a bus?

Gove is surely aware that by the time he needs to fully deliver on his sincerity to save the planet, he could well be in another, more powerful cabinet position, with a junior minister left to take responsibility for “diluting” his plans.

As his party’s environmental policy turns to ash it won’t be Gove’s fault, as he will have bigger fish to fry with a lead role in the new Brexit Britain.

But the truth is, Brexit is the very antithesis of group cooperation. It’s about going it alone, doing your own thing, or taking back control. As the UK cuts itself adrift from Europe, hard-won anti-pollution and climate change protections could disappear like sand through our fingers.

The Environment Secretary’s announcement of setting up an independent watchdog to safeguard environmental standards in the UK is admirable, but a post-Brexit Britain is going to be an unstable place, and the desperate need to make trade alliances with countries like America or China could mean kissing goodbye to a host of green responsibilities.

Once Brexit is an irreversible reality, any lingering nostalgia for a Britain of the past will be long gone and if we’re not careful, this once green and pleasant land will be no more.

I wonder if Gove, as a Scotsman, ever looks at the Scottish Government’s environmental policies with a private admiration tinged with regret.

Scotland is currently setting the gold standard for global leadership on climate change with commitments to tackling air pollution, a complete ban on fracking and the establishment of a not-for-profit energy company to deliver low-cost renewable energy.

By 2020, 100 per cent of Scotland’s electricity will be supplied via renewable energy, with no negative impact on the economy.

It’s a question of priorities really. While Brexit continues to consume the Tories to the detriment of the country and its citizens in every sense, the Scottish Government have their sights set on the future and protecting what we hold most dear and precious – human life and our planet.

It’s a tall order, but so far, they’re ahead of schedule on their pledge. Now that’s something that should go on the side of a bus.