Thoughts on the Reshuffle
Well, well, well. Peter Mandelson is back, much to the pleasure of my good friend Benjamin Wegg-Prosser (see his comments http://wpbenjamin.livejournal.com/). There has been a lot of comment on this reshuffle, so let me add my two pennies worth.
I think this reshuffle shows just how desperate the Prime Minister is. I agree with Ben that Mandelson is a man of talent, but bringing him back will not solve the economic crisis. In fact it could be argued that Mandelson was better placed staying in Europe, where he could fight the corner for free trade as protectionist instincts grow with the coming recession. It is also very Victorian to have such a senior Minister in the Lords, and Mandelson will find it difficult to have influence there. Finally of course, Brown and Mandelson will fall out - it is inevitable - and that will lead to more carnage. It won’t silence the Blairites if things continue to go wrong, and it has mightily annoyed the Brownites. I think Mandelson has simply forgoten what a nightmare Brown is to work for. He will remember in a few weeks’ time.
Brown would have been better to sack Darling and replace him with Balls. Whatever one thinks of Balls - and he is almost as unpopular as Mandelson - Brown could at least have signalled to the City that he had his man in at the Treasury. The appointment of Paul MYners is interesting, and I am sad to see him leave the Tate, where he was a good chairman. And a third peerage for Stephen Carter, showing what a disaster that appointment was, and the new job looks even more odd, straddling DCMS and BERR.
The National Council for Econoic Advisers looks unweildy. A Department for Energy and Climate Change is a masterstroke, the one good idea Brown has had in eighteen months…
canvas said on October 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm:
Desperate times call for desperate measures. You only have to watch John McCain’s bizarre behaviour over the past few weeks to get this. Both Brown and McCain realise they are in a sinking ship - so they’ll try anything to keep afloat.
I don’t think the public are in the mood for retro politics. But if that is what’s happening then I think we need to ask the government - What really happened to Dr David Kelly? I mean as in the truth.