Wednesday 5 September 2012

The Company He Keeps

On one Level the Prime minister in our form of government has very little power. he does not run a large government department and he does not directly manage vast numbers of civil servants and public sector workers. The Prime minister however does make many very important decisions in the course of each day he does not really run the country - that is left to the rest of government.

One of the occasions on which the PM really does wield power is when it is time to decide who gets the top jobs in government. There will be lots written about this reshuffle but what is interesting is what it says about Cameron himself. He has removed women from the top jobs: both Justine Greening and Baroness Warsi have both been replaced by white males who were educated in selective schools. This tells us that in times of trouble Cameron forgets his call to business to have more women on the board of directors and surrounds himself with 'posh boys' in his own image. The 'Cabinet of Millionaires' jibe needs a change it is now a 'Cabinet of Millionaire Clones'

Disappointingly but not unsurprisingly Michael Gove stays in post, A Journo is still in charge of Education. Tories think he is doing a good job as this sick making tweet suggested before the reshuffle was announced "Cabinet reshuffle got me thinking, I wish DC could clone Gove across all departments to push through real reform" I had to check it wasn’t a parody account.

Perhaps the most controversial appointment is Jeremy Hunt to health. Lansley had become a hate figure and rightly so but Cameron must think that the public are too stupid to notice that he a PR man who believes in Homoeopathy and has previously has written papers on how the NHS should be dismantled, is now running the NHS. Hunt has been described as "an excellent communicator" Cameron needs to get a grip - It’s not the communication that is the problem it’s the policy of privatising the NHS. Lansley simply imposed Camerons plan for the NHS, Hunt is an equally obedient acolyte - he will do the same. At least he might ask Murdoch for free Sky TV for inpatients…

Cameron has also shown that he is out of touch. It is not only the aggressive tax avoider Hunt in line for promotion, he has also appointed the £56 000 expenses cheat David Laws who is the most right wing Lib-Dem in parliament. The PM must think that defrauding the exchequer is no big deal and shouldn't stop you from getting a highly paid ministerial role. Most people would think that that sort of behaviour would be a barrier to a successful career.

There are no daring moves, just the same old Tories shuffling nervously while youth unemployment and the cost of living spiral out of control. The futures of the young and the health of the old, sacrificed on the altar of deficit reduction and yet borrowing continues to rise.

The coalition house of cards has collapsed. Cameron is holding a busted flush - shuffling a pack full of jokers is unlikely to make any difference at all.

1 comment:

Gordon said...

Don't forget about Chris Grayling, who dishonestly used 130k of public money to decorate his flat.

If he had been on benefits, he'd have been jailed for that sort of fraud. But no - he gets a promotion. One rule for them - and one for us.

But, I agree with your last sentence - this reshuffle is unlikely to make any difference to the Tories election prospects.