{"id":8174,"date":"2021-04-26T10:28:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T10:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=8174"},"modified":"2021-04-26T10:28:21","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T10:28:21","slug":"fantasy-cabinet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=8174","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Cabinet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Cabinet table of the British Government\/Crown copyright<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As scandals swirl around the Government once again, I\u2019ve been tempted into a pointless but enjoyable reverie of what the ideal Cabinet would look like \u2013 one populated by my heroes past and present. The nominations are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister: Jacinda Ardern<\/strong> \u2013 there\u2019s no contest. Oh, to have a PM we could be proud of and one we know has all of our interests at heart. Having already spent several years working in Whitehall, she wouldn\u2019t have much catching up to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chancellor: Gordon Brown<\/strong>, without a doubt. He still hasn\u2019t received enough credit for his swift action to save the world from financial chaos in 2008, and his ideas on a post-Covid \u2018Marshall Plan\u2019 are spot-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Secretary: David Lammy<\/strong> \u2013 if his vigorous activism is anything to go by, this role could become one of championing the oppressed rather than adding to their woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Secretary: Shami Chakrabarti<\/strong> is a shoo-in for this position as a qualified lawyer well-versed in civil liberties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Secretary: Neil McGregor<\/strong>, because we need someone who can undo the damage Boris Johnson has done. Multilingual, with a profound understanding of cultures across the world, he could start to repair our reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Secretary: Dr Phil Whitaker<\/strong>, GP, who has both a worm\u2019s eye and a bird\u2019s eye view of the health system and takes compassion as his starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education Secretary: Mark Escott<\/strong>. An unknown, but for this post we don\u2019t need someone whom the present system has benefitted, but someone who failed at education dismally yet now achieves what the state seems unable to by rehabilitating society\u2019s most damaged youngsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Caroline Lucas<\/strong>, obvs. Informed, with no alignment with vested interests other than \u2018Client Earth\u2019, it\u2019s high time her talents moved from the backbenches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work and Pensions Secretary: Ellen Wilkinson<\/strong>. Committed, passionate, and a prime mover behind the Jarrow March of 1936, she had a keen understanding of how hard people\u2019s lives can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communities and Local Government Secretary: Ada Salter<\/strong> \u2013 accept no substitute. London\u2019s first female elected mayor, she embedded herself in impoverished Bermondsey to champion its residents, fought successfully for improved housing and created green recreational spaces throughout the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business Secretary: Gina Miller<\/strong>. Fearless and principled, she proved you can be successful in business and have a conscience. Big on the rule of law, too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary: David Olusoga<\/strong> \u2013 it\u2019s high time we had someone genuinely cultured in the role, and he could steer us through the minefield of restitution and the future of museums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport Secretary: Barbara Castle<\/strong> \u2013 bring her back! She introduced seatbelts, breathalysers and permanent speed limits, and I\u2019ve no doubt she would relish the challenge of securing safe affordable transport consistent with environmental concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defence Secretary: Thomas Cromwell<\/strong> (the Hilary Mantel version). That charm and bonhomie, tempered with menace where necessary, would be harnessed to a brief to keep the peace and lean on, in the nicest possible way, the loose cannons on the global stage who threaten stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look around this Cabinet table: they\u2019re free from the taint of sleaze (with the exception of Thomas Cromwell, but, hey, he was pre-the Ministerial Code), experts \u2013 yes, Govey, experts \u2013 in their fields, fiercely intelligent, and with a habit of getting things done. Now look round the present Cabinet table and weep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve missed out some great people (sorry, Attlee and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, among others), and I\u2019m aware I haven\u2019t covered every single portfolio, so who would you nominate, and for which roles?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Look round the present Cabinet table and weep . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,324,297,58,355,328,55,65,62,282],"tags":[376],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8174"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8196,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions\/8196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}