Thursday 17 September 2015

Trophy Cabinet?

As a fierce supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, I write this in that spirit.

A pro-war Shadow Foreign Secretary. A pro-Trident Shadow Defence Secretary. A pro-HS2 Shadow Transport Secretary.

A fanatically pro-EU Shadow Lord Chancellor, who was the real Lord Chancellor under his erstwhile flatmate, Tony Blair.

Corbyn's campaign manager made Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, but not made Shadow First Secretary of State, so that he will not deputise at Prime Minister's Questions.

Only four Shadow Cabinet members who signed the Leader's nomination papers, including the Leader himself.

Who won? And by what wafer-thin margin?

The Left, and even just the awkward squad (a noble calling), need to do something structural about this.

Shadow Shadows to hold weekly meetings with the Leader, or something like that.

It needs fleshing out, of course. But it would be well worth considering.

After all, when were certain other people ever inclusive like this?

Blair put the Leader of an Opposition party on a Cabinet committee, and Brown tried to appoint that same man to the Cabinet itself.

When prevented from so doing, Brown instead chose an elected Labour MP, but one who had previously been a Conservative MP, and before that a Conservative Party staffer.

When is sauce for the goose going to be sauce for the gander?

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