Denied! Clarke vs. Mandelson

The Business Secretary is due to give a statement in Parliament at 3.05pm today on the car industry.

Pretty important one might think.

Unfortunately, we are denied the prospect of the shadow Business Secretary holding the Business Secretary properly to account.

This is because Gordon Brown has deemed fit to appoint a peer - Lord Mandelson - to the important position, especially in a recession, of Business Secretary.

We should be able to tune in to see Ken Clarke going head to head with Peter Mandelson but that is not to be.

More...

This is part of a wider problem. The Business Select Committee has recently voiced concern that the government has more Business ministers in the Lords than in the Commons.

LORDS

• Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson - Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
• Shriti Vadera - Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business (jointly with Cabinet Office)
• Stephen Carter CBE - Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (jointly with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
• Mervyn Davies CBE - Minister for Trade and Investment (jointly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

COMMONS

• Pat McFadden MP - Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs
• Gareth Thomas MP - Minister for Trade, Development and Consumer Affairs (jointly with the Department for International Development)
• Ian Pearson MP - Economic and Business Minister (jointly with HM Treasury)

It speaks volumes about how Brown perceives the ministerial qualities and business experience of his MPs that he has had to rely on the Lords to fill most of his business ministerial positions.

And as Peter Oborne has pointed out, not a single member of the Cabinet has ever occupied a wealth-creating job.

The Commons is the primary and democratically elected chamber and Gordon Brown would do well to remember this when appointing his ministers.

42 days is dead

I've just heard that a government whip has let it be known that 42 days is dead. The spin being that the government is only focused on the financial crisis and will not let anything else distract the government from its central mission.

This fits with Nick Robinson's post the other day. The BBC political editor said that the PM has been told that he faces a heavy defeat in the Lords (possibly on Monday) and that it would be political suicide to invoke the Parliament Act. Robinson also wrote: "A clear sign that the game's up came in the reshuffle when two of the ministers most closely involved were moved -Tony McNulty's left the home office to go to DWP and Baroness Ashton is leaving the Lords front bench to replace Peter Mandelson in Brussels. "

It is interesting to see how the government is going to spin its humiliating retreat - PM still believes in 42 days detention without charge but the focus is on the economy.

I'm sorry, this is absolute bullsh*t! Brown has argued that 42 days is vital in our fight against terrorism. I disagree with him but let's take him at his word for the moment. If it's so vital, why is he prepared to let it drop? As for the focus on the economy, can our government not multi-task? What is more important than the security of the British people?

The truth is that Brown knows he can't get the legislation through the Lords and does not have the political authority to use the Parliament Act. The "focusing on the economy" line is a load of crap.

I'm looking forward to the Lords giving Brown and the Labour government a bloody nose on this issue... they deserve it!!!