The end of a turbulent week...

I meant to post this message about this past week in Britsih politics yesterday (Friday), but deferred to the news of the unexpected reshuffle of the cabinet by Gordon Brown. But what an interesting but damaging (for some) week it has been. Jacqui Smith set the ball rolling on Tuesday when BBC News reported of her resignation from the Home Office. At this point a cabinet reshuffle was expected after the results of the European elections tommorow. This was just another repercussion of the Expenses scandal - she was the one who claimed for the 'adult movie' for her husband. I kinda though that her resignation was inevitable. I belive she has . As Gordon Brown said in PMQ's that day, crime is down. But I feel will be hard to erase the memory of the many stabbings of younger people in the UK. Over 100 people aged 10-19 have either been stabed or beaten since 1st January last year. Shocking facts that we will remember when we think of Jacqui Smith's time in charge of Home Affairs. The next day, the eve of the Local and European electons, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears quited the cabinet, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown. No great loss really, one of 'Blair's Babes', who I never thought would work under Brown's leadership. She has been been replaced by much more competent John Denham. The resignations continued, less important junior minsters came out after further expense revelations. But the big one didnt come until Thursday, the polls had closed, the votes are being counted and verified then, bang! James Purnell had resigned from Work and Pensions. This angered me greatly as you may know from my other posts. That then set the bar for Friday. After the very poor election results (for Labour). A string of further resignations including John Hutton and Margaret Beckett followed. I had thought before that Beckett would be in the Cabinet in some capacity, perhaps Health Secretary. in conclusion, I feel the week has ended with a smart reshuffling by Brown followed by a strong defence of the resignations to the harsh Fleet Street press & Nick Robinson, of course.

In a very turbulent week in Westminster, Gordon Brown can only hope next week isnt as bad but with the results of the Euro elections, who knows what could happen. Brown will hope to lie low and just do his job. I hope he succeeds. Well, that's what I think...

It's all going on...

Following my post on the shock resignation of James Purnell last night, I've woken up to the news this morning of the beginning of the cabnet reshuffle. Firstly, Alan Johnson is the new Home Secretary, what a brillaint move by Gordon Brown. Alan Johnson has this week spoken of his loyalty to the PM and I could'nt think of a better person to pick up the pieces after Jacqui Smith's poor reign in charge. He is just the level-headed figure Labour needs alongside the PM on home affairs. This also quashes any rumours of Alan Johnson leaving the cabinet and trying for the leadership. The same goes for David Miliband who has again reiliterated his support for Gordon and it is very unlikely that he will leave his post as Foreign Secretary. The big news is possibly that Alastair Darling is staying at the Treasury. This decision I am unsure of, it is bad because of the revelations of Darling's exepnses, but this could be seen as a positive move as the Treasury needs stability. As I write, John Hutton, the Defence Seretary has resigned. A week of Labour resignations is still going on even dring the reshuffle.John Hutton is a so called 'blairite' and so it was inevitable that he would go. Sources say John Denham is looking at a new, bigger role which would be a another good move for a very good and hard-working minister. On an exciting day in Parliament, I think this may recoop some of Brown's authority. But will it win an election?

Damn it, James Purnell...

Why does James Purnell insist on making things worse? After he resigned yesterday, he categorically denied seeking the leadership. If you are not seeking leadership then why resign immediately after the end of major elections and before a cabinet reshuffle? Why not wait until the reshuffle is decided and decline the job offer. I feel James Purnell has shown great weakness in his political prowess. Siobhan McDonagh MP has said he is being 'brave', I think he has shown lack of judgement and lack of experience. Which strangely is leading me to feel slightly glad he is no longer in the Government. Just hours before his resignation, althougfh I am completely behind Gordon Brown, I had considered James Purnell as an outsider for leadership, behind Jon Cruddas, David Miliband and Alan Johnson. Now I realise what a mistake that would be. James Purnell couldnt lead a toddler's tea party. Don't even get me started on Hazel Blears...

A Facebook Conversation...

I began this blog a couple of hours after the resignation of James Purnell. When that story broke I had BBC News on in the background whilst trying to defend Gordon Brown's leadership of the Labour Party. I thought for my first post I could show you all that converstation to just give an idea of how passionate I am about Politics and the Labour Party for that matter.

The Conversation:
(I have censored the names of the people in the conversation as they may not wish to have their names published in my blog.

Ash Giles is thinking poor Gordon...Bugger Blears!

Person 1 at 07:59 on 04 June
poor gordon? why?

Ash Giles at 20:09 on 04 June
He's a good Prime Minister with a vision fo rthe future...but every one is ganging up on him! It's not all his fault!

Person 1 at 20:12 on 04 June
Errr hello.... He was the fricking chancellor for the last gazillion years..of course this is all his fault!!!

Person 2 at 20:14 on 04 June
??? good lord, ash. he had been chancellor for god knows how long, and i hadnt seen him do anything memorable - unless of course, you can name something :P i know you cant see him as all bad... well, maybe you can :/

Person 1 at 20:16 on 04 June
Here here Cody!! Although I feel sorry because he had a child that died!!!

Person 2 at 20:18 on 04 June
blimey never knew that - how long ago was it?

Ash Giles at 20:19 on 04 June
You got me started now, just ask Liam about my political rants! When Gordon was Chancellor the economy was in a boom time. During the boom time he made sure the NHS recruited 20,000 more nurses and built 30,000 new schools.Gordon Brown presided over the longest period of growth ever, creating two and a half million more jobs, and lifting 600,000 children out of poverty. Owned.

Ash Giles at 20:50 on 04 June
Gordon and his wife had a daughter in December 2001 and she died of Cystic Fibrosis in the January of 2002.

Ash Giles at 20:55 on 04 June
I tell a lie....the daughter was born prematurely and died...he also has a son who has got cystic fibrosis though :(

Person 2 at 21:09 on 04 June
hey, i didnt say he didnt do anything memorable, just not anything that i knew of. the only thing i would say about that is in a boom cycle, there wouldn't be many who couldn't have done that and more.i understand the death of a child is very hard, and not to sound cold or anything, but around about this time (7 years laer) something like that shouldnt be something to get in the way, nor an excuse for his inability to lead a country in a crisis.the final thing i find is that as good as you make him out to be, he and his entire party have been revealed as very corrupt, and while not the sole blame can be put upon him for that, if the "scandals" or whatever they are called were not revealed, it would be likely he would have allowed it to go on.again, he cant have sole blame - but he's the one spearheading the fate of the country, if he's so wonderful it shouldnt be to hard to overcome these problems.... Read more double your post size XD and i have more if you wanna discuss single points.

Person 2 at 21:10 on 04 June
woops i ran outta post space :/ all i wanted to add was; :P

Ash Giles at 22:50 on 04 June
Firstly, I think you may find that in no way has his child's death got 'in the way', Liam's mum just happened to bring it up....Secondly, it is not only the Labour Party that has been uncovered. The scandal involves MP's from both sides of the house (primarily Conservatives). I am not saying he is the best PM we have ever had but Gordon Brown has a... Read more vision for the future of Britain, he and Alistair Darling are currently leading the world out of the recession (he has advised Barack Obama on some issues), and lets face it, anybody is going to be better than having David Cameron as the Prime Minister. Tony Blair was the best Prime Minister the UK has ever seen (Yes, better than Churchill or Thatcher!), Blair was always going to be a difficult figure to follow. Tony also left Gordon with some loose strings to tie up, for example, 3,000 British troops were still in Iraq when Tony left office, all British troops have now been withdrawn. See next post>>

Ash Giles at 23:09 on 04 June
I think any leader, be it Brown, Cameron or Clegg, Obama, Sarkozy or Merkel, would laugh at you if you told them that it quote: 'shouldnt be to hard to overcome these problems'.The challenges we face are unprecedented. These are global challenges we must combat. You can't possibly only blame our government for the state of the economy because as I... Read more said this problem is not on the British stage, it is on a global stage. As a result of the 'scandals' Gordon Brown has announced complete constitutional reform which may well include an electoral reform (This could lead to the voting age being lowered to 16) and an expenses reform to enthuse trust in Parliament. Gordon Brown is not allowed to know the content of other MP's expenses to respect the privacy all MP's are entitled to. For that reason, there is no way Brown could of prevented this from happening. But he has now acted very quickly to address the issue and prevent it from happening again. Obviously, as a member of the Labour Party >

Ash Giles at 23:23 on 04 June
I will try to defend it at all times. But I am fully behind Gordon Brown, I believe he is the best person to lead the country out of this recession and into the next general election which should be in May 2010. As I write this James Purnell, the Work & Pensions Sec., has resigned. There will be a cabinet reshuffle next week and Gordon Brown and ... Read morehis new cabinet can focus on the real issues facing Britain, something David Cameron and the Conservatives are incapable of. The Conservatives lack substance and policy.A Conservative government for Britain would be a disaster.I think that post was about 3 times your last one...