So the Fat Controller has been relieved of his duties at the ODPM, though he still retains the post of Deputy PM and keeps the fat salary and the grace and favour houses. Kate Hoey (Lab), a former sports minister, said she was "surprised" and "disappointed" that Mr Prescott was still in the Cabinet. "I think people will want to ask what on Earth he's going to get paid for, what's he going to actually do," she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. [source] Indeed we do.
This looks like a wrist slap for having the affair with his secretary and upsetting people's sensitivities just before the local elections, but there may be something more calculating in the shuffle than that, knowing Blair.
Some rebranding will be needed at the ODPM now that it's no longer the preserve of the DPM. Ruth Kelly will take over his local government patch. Kelly speaks slowly and deliberately, as if she thinks everyone she is addressing is an idiot. This will be, I think, her 6th government job since becoming an MP in 1997. Will she maintain Prezza's enthusiasm for concreting the south east and demolishing servicable houses in the north?
Charles Clarke is sacked for the cock-up over the non-deported foreign crims, a cynical move by Blair – from Clarke's point of view – after Blair patted him on the shoulder in the Commons the other day and several times expressed his 'total confidence'. Clarke is not happy.
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, nicely summed up his potential legacy: "Mr Clarke may feel harshly judged today but for his anti free speech and ID card laws and for instituting punishment without trial, our children may judge him even more harshly tomorrow." [source]
John Reid takes over as Home Sec. I don't like Reid. In interviews, at least, he comes over as dour and dogmatic and arrogant. Interesting comment on Blairwatch recently about Reid's former friendship with indicted war-criminal Radovan Karadzic. [source] Where do we go with UK ID cards now?
Straw (a previous Home Sec) is demoted from Foreign Sec to Leader of the Commons, after being at the FO since 2001. I wonder why. Was it that chummy weekend in Blackburn with Condi? His place is taken by Margaret Beckett, who likes caravans and flying at the taxpayers' expense.
Almost every other cabinet post has also changed. Except for the top one, where change is long overdue.
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