Too Much Ambition and Not Enough Ability

Gordon Brown proudly talked about a government of all the talents and what do we end up with? A cross between happy families and the kids are alright. To continue to quote from the Who’s back catalogue.

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?

Peter Hain’s resignation has caused some thirty something’s to rise up the cabinet pecking order.

James Purnell (Work & Pensions) 37
Andy Burnham (Culture) 38
Yvette Cooper (Chief secretary to the Treasury) 38

They join some other young guns.

Ed Balls 40
David Miliband 42
Ed Miliband 38
Douglas Alexander 39
Ruth Kelly 39

According to Channel 4’s political editor this all showed how jolly clever our PM is at reshuffles. The fact is it shows how altogether too cosy the situation has become. Husband and wife in the cabinet (Balls & Cooper)? Good idea? I don’t think so. When you start to look at some of their qualifications for the job it gets even scarier. Yvette Cooper former economic researcher & economic correspondent for the Independent and she’s chief secretary to the Treasury? Check out the rest for yourself and what do you have? A whole bunch of mainly professional politicians who have little or no idea of the real world. For me this is what has been behind some of this dodgy money business. They are out of touch with the realities of life. The Balls-Cooper household gets over £275,000 in salaries. Can you believe that? It’s over six times more than an average male and female salary, of people in fulltime employment, added together.

Just to go back to the resignation of Hain it was fascinating watching Channel 4 news this evening. They had a Labour back bencher on the programme defending him, along with the Chief Whip, Geoff (Buff) Hoon, Matthew Taylor Blair’s former aide and the editor of the New Statesman. All spoke up for Labour and attempted to turn the argument into one of the funding of political parties. If this had been a Tory can you imagine Channel 4 news being so ‘on message’?

This cabinet is going to prove itself increasingly inept. Gordon’s control freak mentality will go into over drive and he’ll become even more beleaguered. This really does feel like the beginning of the end of a government in which there’s far too much ambition and not enough ability.

UPDATE
Kirsty Wark on Newsnight has just given Buff Hoon the softest of interviews. To almost every question Hoon said "I simply don't acept what you say" and she let him away with it. When the Tory Chris Grayling went on after this she was somewhat more aggressive, even intrupting him. Her line of attack being, - "shouldn't you have called for his resignation". Well, no actually, they shouldn't. Leave Hain in place so that the sore can fester.