I must say Gordon Brown has started rather well. Decent ministerial appointments, given the shallow pool of ‘talents’ available to him. And a few respected outsiders, too. I’m not too sure about splitting the Department of Education and Skills, though. I don’t think it will do much for a co-ordinated education policy, but perhaps that is not the point.
Anyway, I’ll give him a chance to see how well he does.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Bel, I agree. Although one would hardly call Digby Jones an ‘outsider’.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Yes, Dave. He has hung around the fringes of New Labour long enough. Wasn’t he doing something or other for Tony Blair? Something to do with ’skills’.
June 29th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Hi Bel:
He needs to be splitting up the role of the AG in relation to the CPS and advising the government look at the problems associated with Goldsmith and his apparent bias.
Also, he needs to be appointing a Lord Chancellor who is a judge to be in charge of the courts. And, because there should be a separation of powers between the courts which punish and the prisons which is where justice is served out.
I am disappointed with Jack Straw’s appointment to this office, although he has not been the Minister of Justice before, he was Home Secretary and created a crisis in the prisons which we are still suffering from now.
June 29th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Splitting DfES may not do much for a co-ordinated education policy, but extracting what was the Office of Science and Innovation out of DTI will help the stability of university funding. Now they are under a separate department it will be much harder for DBERR to raid the Research Council funds like DTI did in August having wasted money bailing out Rover.
June 30th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I disagree, the MSM are keen to spin Brown up now so tht he gives them lots of nice copy.
The truth is it is 90% the same faces who have created many of the problems we face. The interesting appointments are all quite junior as you would expect. A classic piece of spin.
Broon has learnet much from his master.
Where are is the policy to stop mass immigration, to end multiculturalism and stop britain becoming a mere satellite state within the EU?
Only in education does brown seem to be serious, even if I will no doubt disagree with his methods, he does appear to be interested.
A long darkness is set upon us.
June 30th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
CU, I agree with much of what you say, particulary about the media being nice to Gordon Brown. For example, all this praise about how he has ‘kept his nerve’ during the bomb attempts. Kept his nerve? That’s the least we would expect, I think. Were they expecting to see him collapse in a heap, or what?
About the ministerial appointments, I don’t really have much regard for most of the appointees, but I just take the view that he could have done far worse. It’s not like the Labour backbenches are packed with men and women of outstanding ability, is it?
June 30th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Bel - mybe am being dismissive as its raining, but i’m yet to be convinced that ANY of the back benches are packed with people of outstanding ability…
June 30th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Dolbyn, I am with you 100 per cent on that.