Brown misses an opportuntiy
James Forsyth 9:21pm
A quick check on the health of a party is whether there is more talent on the back benches than the front bench. Labour are close to that tipping point with Charles Clarke, Jon Cruddas, Alan Milburn, Stephen Byers, Denis MacShane, David Blunkett and Frank Field all out of the front line. Any of these would have added heft to the cabinet and all are more impressive figures than Caroline Flint and Yvette Cooper. If Brown had appointed Milburn to the Department of Work and Pensions he would have shown that he has moved on from the Blairite Brownite fights of the past and would have put someone in place who could have given the Tories a fight over welfare reform.
A Treasury duo of Alistair Darling and Yvette Cooper seems rather low-watt in these troubled economic times; it appears that Brown will only appoint those who have been with him on the long march to power to his old department. Yvette Cooper, like most of Brown’s closest allies, is a poor media performer—Iain Martin has some particularly astute points on Cooper’s shortcomings--in a brief where she is going to be on TV and radio a lot over the next few months.
If Labour is going to win the next election they have to get their A team on the field. This limited reshuffle suggests that Brown hasn’t grasped this. Indeed, the Tories are the only one of the three main parties who are fielding their strongest possible line up at the moment with several of the Lib Dems biggest beasts sitting things out at the moment.
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TrevorH
January 24th, 2008 10:02pm Report this commentChancellor Darling must have slid under the desk when he heard about Mrs Balls' elevation. George Osborne must be singing in the bath.
Simon
January 24th, 2008 10:58pm Report this commentQuite right. He could have compromised by promoting John Denham.
C.G
January 24th, 2008 11:12pm Report this commentHow bad do things need to get for Labour before Brown steps aside for Miliband, a man who for youth and trust from his party could best quash Cameron in the next election?
Fergus Pickering
January 24th, 2008 11:31pm Report this commentMiliband? The man is what my daughters call a wuss (if that is how you spell it). However, if you guys think he's the main man, you go right ahead. And Brown won't 'step aside' for God Almighty, never mind little Davey.
Austin Barry
January 25th, 2008 12:15am Report this commentWell. the Brown cabinet isn't exactly the first XI, they are, above all, Brown-nosers and "vill toe ze party line". Honestly, we're doomed. This cabinet must be the poorest since Lord George Brown was getting pissed with George "kerb-crawler" Wigg back in 1964. Come friendly bomb and fall on Westminster, it isn't fit for humans now...
Tiberius
January 25th, 2008 12:37am Report this commentI can't believe Milburn would accept a cabinet post from Brown because he knows he would be serially undermined. Brown has accepted that he is in a losing position and is now merely satisfying his ego by surrounding himself with his trusty fan club.
Kevyn Bodman
January 25th, 2008 2:01am Report this commentJames Purnell has been in post for about 12 hours and you're already saying Brown has missed an opprtunity. This is just criticism for the sake of criticism,isn't it? If Brown had gone for Milburn you'd have said he was taking a backward step and should have gone for a dynamic young,rising star... like Purnell.Or Burnham. I don't know why you think Milburn has more talent or ability than a number of others. Wasn't he a bit of a Blairite suck-up? David Blunkett was poor in all his jobs, plus he is a natural authoritarian. Charles Clarke is an oaf who carries himself as if he has an entitlement to a big job. Stephen Byers, any credibility issues during his time in Cabinet?
Nicholas Millman
January 25th, 2008 7:49am Report this commentBit of a theme there Kevyn. The ministry of all the talents? Are there any credible politicians in the Labour party other than Frank Field?
Glyn H
January 25th, 2008 7:51am Report this commentYou believe that Byers would add weight to the Cabinet? I suppose it is a reflection on the present incumbents but to my mind that man would not add heft to a polytechnic law department staff room!
Paul Linford
January 25th, 2008 9:02am Report this commentAgree Milburn should return,a and DWP would have been a good fit for him.
William Norton
January 25th, 2008 10:59am Report this commentI'd guess Alan Milburn is holding out for a job that sounds something like 'Election Campaign Co-ordinator'. You know, just to make a friendly point.
Roger Thornhill
January 25th, 2008 11:56am Report this commentI would not be surprised if Milburn turned down any offer. Keeping his powder dry for when the Gordon Thunderbolt jumps the points and derails, to go head-to-head against the oleaginous Miliband.
David Lindsay
January 25th, 2008 5:34pm Report this commentWell, I assume that the MacShane reference is neocon fellow-feeling, and that you are just having a laugh about the ludicrous Milburn and Byers. But you are right about the rest. Were it not for the strange fact that Wales now has a full-time Secretary of State like Northern Ireland but Scotland has only a part-timer, then the return of Paul Murphy to the Cabinet would be a cause of much joy. As things are, it is still by some distance the best news from this reshuffle. Murphy is the only politician promoted. The present Cabinet is astonishing bare, weak, thin and empty. Brown has deliberately surrounded himself with nonentities. Is he really that insecure? And since he will have to go one day, where does he expect his successor to come from?
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