The case for John Hutton as a New Labour hero
Peter Hoskin 3:36pm
Ok, so identifying the heroes of the New Labour era may not sit well with CoffeeHousers - but I'd still recommend you read through the latest Bagehot column in the Economist, which does just that. It identifies five figures from the past 12 years who have "done the state and country some serious and lasting service," and whose "virtues [are] not be clouded or cancelled by grave mistakes or misdemeanours". They are: Lord Adonis, Donald Dewar, Lord Mandelson, Sir William Macpherson and Robin Cook. James Purnell, Alistair Darling and, strikingly, Bill Clinton finish in the runners-up list.
You can debate the merits and demerits of those names all day long, but I'd rather suggest another person for the list: John Hutton.
To my mind, the MP for Barrow and Furness, has, in a quietly competent way, achieved a great deal in government. When at the DWP, he commissioned the Freud Review into welfare - and was its main champion, both inside and outside government, upon its release. Although it was blocked by Gordon Brown at the time, that review set the groundwork which James Purnell built on during his spell in the DWP brief, and it established a broad political consensus around "workfare" policy. Now that we face unemployment levels approaching 3 million, and almost 6 million on out-of-work benefits, it's clear that much more needs to be done. But Hutton's work then is even more important in hindsight.
And then there was Hutton's brief spell as Defence Secretary. This military history buff fought like few of his predecessors for more troops and better equipment to be sent to Afghanistan. Again, many of his requests were blocked, and, still, much more remains to be done - but Hutton did manage to wring more resources for the military out of the government. He's very highly regarded by every army type I've spoken with. And he's been fighting their corner even since he stepped down from government. A lot more people would rest a lot easier if he was still in the MoD.
Anyway, that's enough on Hutton. What we need now is for someone to paraphrase Fareed Zakaria, and write the article, "What Brown got right". Or maybe not.
Previous
TomTom
December 18th, 2009 3:50pm Report this commentSir William Macpherson ? Surely you mean Lord Hutton who held the non-inquest into the mysterious death of Dr David Kelly !
Moraymint
December 18th, 2009 3:52pm Report this comment"What Brown got right"
Allow me, please, to start the list:
salieri
December 18th, 2009 3:54pm Report this commentSir William Macpherson?? The man who destroyed the police force??
johno
December 18th, 2009 4:03pm Report this commentWhen I saw your headline I assumed that you were referring to another Hutton - one Baron Hutton, who presided over the first inquiry into the the Iraq war and the David Kelly affair.
Were it not for His Lordship's egregious indulgence of Messrs Blair, Campbell, Scarlett et al, the New Labour project may well have been derailed somewhat earlier than has in fact been the case.
Beer Moth
December 18th, 2009 4:40pm Report this commentToday's the Spectator office party day then?
Verity
December 18th, 2009 4:45pm Report this commentBeer Moth - Ha ha ha ha ha!
Dennis Churchill
December 18th, 2009 4:47pm Report this commentMacpherson? As in:”Racist Murder and Pressure Group Politics: the Macpherson Report and the police”? (Civitas)
“It identifies five figures from the past 12 years who have "done the state and country some serious and lasting.....”
depends how you edit the sentence.
Dorothy Wilson
December 18th, 2009 5:34pm Report this commentDonald Dewar, Lord Mandelson, Sir William Macpherson, James Purnell, Alistair Darling and Bill Clinton.
Those names as heroes tell you all you need to know about NuLabour.
Scottish Cheeselog
December 18th, 2009 5:42pm Report this comment"done the state and country some serious and lasting service," and whose "virtues [are] not be clouded or cancelled by grave mistakes or misdemeanours"
Mandelson?! Seriously? The man who gave us Blair and Brown, resigning twice for fraudulent behaviour on the way? And this is service to the country, unclouded by misdemeanours?
TrevorsDen
December 18th, 2009 5:44pm Report this commentCook gets it for what precisely? Being a useless Foreign Secretary?
Mandelson? WTF?
Where is Hutton now? Debunked from the MoD because he could not face telling lies.
A real man of honour would have resigned and told the House plainly why.
An appalling list and shows what an appalling lot the lefties are.
Chris lancashire
December 18th, 2009 6:53pm Report this commentAdonis yes. The rest no.
Yow Min Lye
December 18th, 2009 7:03pm Report this commentWhat Brown got right? Well, I suppose he did keep us out of the Euro.
Official View
December 18th, 2009 7:04pm Report this commentGood also to have a Spectator contest for the 4 or 5 people who have done most over last 12 years to cheapen, demean and poison public life. We can then start immediately with Alistair Campbell, that one-man destroyer of probity and any form of public service ethos.
Michael Booth
December 18th, 2009 7:54pm Report this commentNothing new about John Hutton: same old Marxist
Paul
December 18th, 2009 7:57pm Report this commentIt's a shame the honest recommendation of one of the unsung heroes of the last ten years gets pulverised in the Spectator comments just because he happens to share a surname with a man who chaired an Iraq enquiry.
As a Tory supporter, I echo the comments of this blog post entirely. Not only in defence and social security, but also in health (don't forget that the Legionaires disease outbreak happened in Barrow whilst he was health minister); this is one of the very few Government ministers who has truly tried to govern for the interest of all, and not just the labour party.
Parliament will be much the poorer for his departure.
Addenough
December 18th, 2009 8:01pm Report this commentWell, this is one ex-military man who has little regard for Hutton despite his relative competence in post. This is the minister who, in an act of gross dereliction of duty, resigned from his post in the middle of a war knowing full well that he was the best man for the job. A soldier would have faced a courts martial for desertion. A strange definition of a hero!
Alan Phillips
December 18th, 2009 8:15pm Report this commentI thought JH already was a NewLab superhero.
His appearance on http://www.medway.nhs.uk/images/Swine%20Flu%20A4-Poster(1).jpg apparently has seen an expected fall in future cases.
Peter From Maidstone
December 19th, 2009 9:49am Report this commentAnd the New Statesman and the Guardian will be running pieces on the most able Conservatives of the past decade when? The Spectator has truly lost the plot. Surely you once had a vision of leading opinion and doing incisive journalism, not just reporting the equivalent of a political beauty contest?
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