David Cameron's reshuffle

[LeftishBrit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19473663

Good news: Lansley won't be Health Secretary any more. Bad news: He is being replaced by Jeremy-the-Hulture-Secretary!

[T_i_B]

1. Jeremy Hunt to Health is an appalling decision

He shouldn't be serving on the front bench in any capacity.

Chris Grayling replacing Ken Clarke is a similarly dreadful decision. He was useless as shadow home secretary and he hasn't been any good as a minister either.

Grant Schapps is the new Tory party chairman. He's been an unmitigated disaster as housing minister. Maybe if he can cause similar damage to the Tory party there will be a silver lining to this cloud.

Haven't seen any Lib Dem changes as yet, although everyone is expecting expenses cheat and colossal hypocrite David Laws to return to government.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Greyling is AWFUL

and Ken Clarke is one of the few Tories who has some sense, not that I'd vote for any of them.

And I can't believe that the idiot Theresa May is being kept on, especially after the Olympics security fiasco.

I keep hearing that Laws might go to Education, perhaps replacing Sarah Teather. I hope not! I'd be upset if Laws replaced Nick bloody Gibb, and I could never say anything stronger than that! For me, it's not that he's a hypocrite - most politicians are; but that he is an anti-spending, pro-cuts fanatic, who thinks the government hasn't been cutting enough. Gove and Gibb at least have some aims in education beyond cutting for cutting's sake, even if most of these aims are unrealistic or plain stupid. Laws is just pure cut-o-nomics!

Once, on looking up old posts on DU, I found that in 2005 I said that I preferred the LibDems to New Labour (the LibDems on my patch are mostly on the left of the party, and I hadn't quite realized how right wing some others were); and Taxloss said that one shouldn't trust the LibDems too much as they included David Laws. At that time, I knew little or nothing about David Laws, and the LibDems weren't likely to hold office anyway, so I didn't go into it, but - Taxloss, wherever you are now, you were quite right! And David Laws is on the other hand quite Right, and he stinks!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. Agreed

I was rather sympathetic to the Lib Dems vis-a-vis New Labour back in 2005. Though they did have a genuine social democrat in Kennedy as their leader.

I recall that back in 2004-5 I was getting a different story from some local (being County Durham) Lib Dems that I knew. They saw the left-of-Labour posturing as a temporary measure before moving right into "natural Liberal territory." That story has panned out and I admittedly underestimated the willingness of the Lib Dems moving into a Tory-led coalition in 2010. Retrospectively I thought the Tories were still too right-wing to be coalition partners for the Lib Dems. Though I do note that they have been comfortable bed-fellows in local government.

[LeftishBrit]

4. My First Law of British Politics...

All parties will sooner or later be dragged hopelessly to the Right by their leaders.

First, the Tories by Thatcher (not that I'd have voted for even the pre-Thatcher version, but she turned it into something more akin to the US Republicans)

Then Labour by Blair (possibly slightly returning from that low point)

Then the LibDems by Clegg.

According to people I know in Scotland, looks like the next one may be the SNP by Salmond...

If there was a one-member independent party, sooner or later it would be dragged to the right by its leader!



BTW, my First Law of American Politics is: There is no Republican so right-wing that they cannot lose a primary to someone still further to the Right!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. Salmond used to be respectable

I thought that the implosion of failed economic models of Ireland, Iceland and the Baltic states would have deterred him from emulating those models. He's back at it again, seemingly not having learned the lessons of the current Depression.

His friendliness with disreputable people like Trump and Murdoch reminds me of Blair in the late 1990s.

[T_i_B]

6. Another one who looks like trouble is Owen Paterson

He may even be Britain's first climate change denying enviroment secretary!

[tjwmason]

8. Agree on Jeremy Hunt

He should have been sacked in disgrace over the whole Murdoch thing.

Plus, he's a supporter of homoeopathy...so can we now look forward to the entire Department of Health being run on magic sugar pills?

[fedsron2us]

9. I can understand why he got rid of Lansley by why replace him with Hunt

who is not only likely to be even more unsympathetic to the NHS but completely useless to boot

[fedsron2us]

7. Simply dire

My local MP Tim Loughton got sacked as Childrens Minister despite the fact that he had 7 years experience shadowing the role and 2 years doing it. Amazingly as a Tory he was even respected by a lot of Child Care professionals.

http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1074551/tim-loughton-step-childrens-minister

He has been replaced by the appalling Elizabeth Truss.

Cameron has done a splendid job of firing or freezing out what little talent he has in the Cabinet and amongst the junior government Ministers. It is not just that he promotes right wingers but that a lot of them are useless fuckwits to boot whose main characteristic is that their vaunting ambition runs way ahead of their ability. Still those who were axed can join the band playing Nearer My God To Thee as this pathetic administration slips beneath the waves.

[dipsydoodle]

10. Heathrow row escalates in wake of cabinet reshuffle

The controversy over Heathrow's future after Tuesday's cabinet reshuffle has increased after Boris Johnson urged expansion to be permanently ruled out.

The removal of Transport Secretary Justine Greening, a fierce opponent of Heathrow expansion, has led critics to say ministers may change their mind.

Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith said it was unfair to leave people "in limbo".

But new party chairman Grant Shapps said there was "no chance" of a change in policy before 2015.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19484126