This is nothing else but a coup-d’état, a putsch!
The man was sacked twice for bad conduct to put it mildly - corruption if you prefer. He’s not been elected by us and here you have our virtual dictator, sending parliament away and keeping as titular head of our government a man who has never been elected to anything except as MP for a Scottish seat.
Democracy? What’s that?
Christina
EVENING STANDARD
21.7.09
The Expanding Empire of Mandelsonia
by Paul Waugh
Downing Street have finally released the list of Cabinet Committees and their composition today. This is always an end of term event and often reveals just where the true power lies in the Government.
Under Tony Blair, Prescott had lots of committee chairmanships under his belt but Charlie Falconer often acted as his eyes and ears.
Under Gordon, the number of committees seems to have increased, but much more importantly Peter Mandelson's influence is underlined categorically.
Out of 43 committees, the Prince of Darkness now sits on no fewer than 35 oF them. Yes, that's right, he's a member of 35 Cabinet committees.
The Empire of Mandelsonia now includes health, domestic policy, public spending, immigration, climate change, trade, the economy, Afghanistan, democratic renewal, Africa and "life chances".
Here's the full list:
National Economic Council NEC
Better Regulation NEC (BR)
Democratic Renewal Council DRC
Domestic Policy Council DPC (which he deputy chairs)
Domestic Affairs DA
Borders and Migration DA (BM)
Communities and Equalities DA (CE)
Food DA
Families, Children and Young People DA (FCY)
Health and Wellbeing DA (HW)
Justice and Crime DA (JC)
Local Government and the Regions DA (LGR) (which he chairs)
Public Engagement and the Delivery of Services DA (PED)
Life Chances LC
Talent and Enterprise LC (TE)
Economic Development ED
Environment and Energy ED (EE)
Housing, Planning and Regeneration ED (HPR)
Olympic and Paralympic Games ED (OPG)
Productivity, Skills and Employment ED (PSE)
Constitution CN
National Security, International Relations and Development NSID
Europe NSID (EU)
Overseas and Defence NSID (OU)
Africa NSID (OUA)
Afghanistan and Pakistan NSID (A&P)
Trade NSID (T)
Protective Security and Resilience NSID (PSR)
Public Services and Public Expenditure PSX
Public Sector Pay and Pensions PSX (P)
Pandemic Influenza Planning MISC 32
Post Office Network MISC 33 (which he chairs)
Flood planning MISC 36
PM’s ad hoc Committee on International Climate Change
PM’s ad hoc International Climate Change Negotiations
It's worth noting that even when Michael Heseltine was DPM, he sat on less than a dozen Cabinet committees.
UPDATE: Just added up Gordon Brown's committees and he sits on 12.
There is a clear Cabinet pecking order emerging. The Chancellor sits on 27 committees, Jack Straw on 25, David Miliband on 23. Bob Ainsworth is on 19.
FURTHER UPDATE: Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles has just seized on this:
“It is quite obvious that Peter Mandelson is the real unelected Prime Minister pulling the strings from number 10.
“He is Gordon Brown’s political life support machine keeping the plotters at bay. He sadly typifies the Prime Minister’s unhealthy reliance on unelected officials
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