As The National in Scotland has reported tonight:
KEIR Starmer has given a ministerial position to a close ally in the unelected House of Lords.
It comes after Anneliese Dodds resigned from his Labour Government over cuts to the international aid budget.
The outgoing Labour minister warned that the impacts of the cuts would be “far greater than presented” by the UK Government.
They then noted:
Starmer [has now] appointed his former political secretary Jenny Chapman to fill Dodds's old position. She will also attend the UK Cabinet.
Chapman had been made a Labour life peer after a nomination from Starmer in December 2020.
She was working as a parliamentary under secretary of state in the Foreign Office before she was elevated on Friday.
My problems are threefold.
First, Starmer and Chapman are reported to be personally close. That does not help political balance. Friendships can undermine objectivity, not least with others who will be involved in managing complex issues.
Second, rumour has always been that Dodds was never meant to have the right to attend Cabinet. She simply claimed it, for which I give her all credit. But now, Starmer has consented to this for someone who is in effect part of his inner circle. That is an uncomfortable concentration of his power.
Third, the undue haste of this suggests a lack of respect for the role of overseas aid.
My difficulties with this administration grows by the day.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
There is also a fourth point, lack of confidence in the team of Labour MPs behind him. Is there not one Labour MP of merit who could have been appointed. Seems to be the at of an insecure PM.
Agreed
I should have thought of that
For me, bringing in members of the unelected HoL into an elected Government is a big no-no and indicative of what you say. Proof if ever it was needed that it British politics and NOT Britain that is broken.
Where are the principles here?
I see none.
With the US cuts to USAID and now the UKs cuts to foreign aid all in order to boost defense budgets it is a horrifying prospect for some of the most poor under developed countries I notice none of them too on some of your suggestions from a post last week showing how the money could be found by taxing the wealthy more fairly. Not surprising but sad. Our world is about to get even more unequal and violent.
Agreed
I’d like to think he couldn’t find an MP sufficiently unprincipled to accept the role in a Starmer government. I’m fairly certain I’d be wrong however.
I am sure you are