Chris Huhne “cannot be sure” whether he might, after all, have been driving his car that fateful night. Ken Clarke cannot be sure why he spoke about rape in that way. Andrew Lansley cannot be sure. All this we learn from the Sunday newspapers: three ministers are for the chop — it’s just a matter of time. They will sit in the Cabinet death row alongside Caroline Spelman, unforgiven for her handling of the forests fiasco, and Vince Cable, caught on tape boasting about his “nuclear option” of resignation. This makes no fewer than five dead men walking — and that’s before you think about the party chairmanship. As I say in the News of the World today, Cameron needs a clearout. He is in danger of running a zombie Cabinet, staffed with too many politically undead.
In opposition, Cameron disparaged the panicky way Labour reshuffled so often, giving ministers an average of 18 months before being reshuffled. Now, he can’t reshuffle as easily — for reasons explained in James Forsyth’s typically excellent political column in this week’s magazine (“Cameron in chains”, p12). A reshuffle now would be a very delicate party political balancing act. But his reluctance to reshuffle has led to a certain indiscipline, especially amongst the Lib Dems. And there are now a number of ministers whom Cameron will neither sack, nor forgive. For example, Cameron refused to take David Davis back in the Cabinet because he felt it would only be a matter of time before DD resigned in a pique. Now that Cable is (thanks to the Daily Telegraph) on the record promising just such a course of action, it’s obvious that Cameron should dump him. From John Nott to Robin Cook, politicians have written books pegged to spectacular departures. You can bet that Cable — who now revels in his celebrity — is planning just the same.
The danger — and it is a very real danger — is that Cameron’s lack of faith in his own Cabinet means he tones down his radicalism and retreats back into his comfort zone of endless Big Society relaunches. That won’t do. A reshuffle is not only possible, but necessary — unless Cameron wants his Cabinet meetings to look like a remake of the Thriller video. Matt d’Ancona makes a compelling case for getting rid of Ken today. The decision to reshuffle may end up being taken by Essex Police. If they interview Huhne under caution, he’ll have to go — and then it will all start. As long as IDS and Gove stay in their jobs, the radical core of this government will be protected — these two are the canaries in the miner’s hat. The others are moveable. And many are promotable. Danny Alexander’s job in the Treasury is done, he’s ready for a new challenge. Ditto the excellent Jeremy Browne in the Foreign Office. That’s just two, and they’re both Lib Dems. With so much talent around, Cameron shouldn’t carry on with so many undead ministers. There’s too much to be done.
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