Reshuffle

[longfingernails]

The wet Dominic Grieve out.
The wet Damien Green out.
The no common sense Willetts out.
The wet Ken Clarke quits.
The useless Alan Duncan out.

Also, Greg Barker, David Jones, Nick Hurd all out.

Rumours about some Very Big Changes.

Who will be in?

'I really wish Cameron had the guts to sack Baroness Warsi'

He is sacking men, not women. He is under the delusion that that will help his image with voters. Clutching at straws comes to mind.

Warsi doesn't actually have a portfolio does she? I mean what power does she actually have?

claig He is sacking many useless people who need to be sacked, and I give him credit for that. It would be even better if he sacked useless women as well as useless men.

MinutesOfMeetings She is meant to be 'Minister for Faith and Communities' - a meaningless job without any real responsibilities as far as I can tell.

She's Minister of State for Faith and Communities, in the Department for Communities and Local Government.

We'll have to agree to disagree longfingernails

And, if I were you I'd cross your longfingernails that you're never in need of a decent lawyer in the future

'Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is expected to hang on to his Cabinet seat, largely thanks to his appeal as a bluff Northerner.'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2690011/Surprise-comeback-Liam-Fox-Cameron-plans-radical-reshuffle-promotes-leading-women-Tories.html#ixzz37U0McQta

Thank God for that. He is the only half Tory left among the modernisers. Although having said that, someone will probably correct me and tell me he wrote the Modernisers' Manual.

'He is sacking many useless people who need to be sacked, and I give him credit for that. It would be even better if he sacked useless women as well as useless men.'

His problem is that then there would be no one left but Humphrey the Cat and Gove, and while they would make a great team, they can't be expected to sort everything out.

'She is meant to be 'Minister for Faith and Communities' - a meaningless job without any real responsibilities as far as I can tell.'

But "communities" and "charidees" and "social enterprises" and "Big Society" seem to be what the modernisers care about most.

Hugh Robertson has resigned as Foreign Office Minister, and Sir George Young is standing down as chief whip. Which reminds me - time for Andrew Mitchell to be brought back? Maybe at DIFD since Alan Duncan has gone.

Or DfID even...

claig I don't much like Cameron, but think he is doing quite well so far.
The purge of Dominic Grieve and Damien Green is particularly welcome; it suggests that Cameron is removing obstables to Britain withdrawing from the ECHR. Similarly, Hammond has said he is prepared to vote to leave the EU if renegotiations aren't to Britain's benefit; it's a sign that Cameron's line on Europe is hardening that he has bee promoted to Foreign Secretary.

I should qualify that - quite well so far meaning in terms of this reshuffle! More generally I think he has compromised too much in government, is far too PR-led, and needs a good dose of backbone and conviction.

I think Andrew Mitchell should get another crack at it, for the final year, after loosing his job for a to do over a bike.

'I don't much like Cameron, but think he is doing quite well so far.'

I think his judgement is a bit suspect - he wanted to bomb Libya and Parliament said no, he backed Maria Miller and the public was baffled, he went in all guns blazing against Junker and came out losing 26 to 2, he hired Andy Coulson, he called UKIP fruitcakes and the public voted for them in the biggest earthquake in 100 years ...

There is still a year to go. What else will he get wrong?

SittingNextToSanta Well, the Police Minister's job is open now that Damien Green has gone...

Claig -

LOADS, I expect!

'LOADS, I expect!'

Going by his track record, that is an understatement!

He needs to get grip, throw the Modernisers' Manual out of the window, or even recycle it if he must and feels he has to meet EU carbon capture and recycling targets that Juncker thinks are a good idea.

Sorry, should have been

"he wanted to bomb Syria and Parliament said no"

So is this paving the way for a Conservative lurch out of Europe?

HauntedNoddyCar The EU is hellbent on a federal agenda. Britain, by and large, wants a loose trading relationship but with sovereignty maintained by nation states. The EU is pushing Britain out through its untrammelled federalism.

I doubt it. there are a few more rightwingers, but I think it is just cosmetic. They will all follow the EU line and promote "climate change" etc. They are not allowed to do otherwise. Merkel will give Cameron a few concessions and he will campaign to stay in Europe. Don't forget that Obama wants us to be in Europe.

Apparently donors are starting to get jittery. They probably want some real Conservative policies rather than more modernising mucking about that is driving real Tories to UKIP faster than Usain Bolt in a world record bid.

"Last night, one senior figure on the Right said: ‘Donors are not threatening to close their chequebooks – yet.

‘But they are telling Cameron that he must reconnect with what is now a very unhappy Tory Party.

...

The Tory donor demands emerged after reports that party membership has collapsed by 60 per cent since Mr Cameron became leader, amid grassroots anger at policies such as House of Lords reform and same-sex marriage.

There are also claims that party donations are drying up over despair at Chancellor George Osborne’s handling of the economy."

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180307/DAvid-Cameron-Tory-donors-tell-Prime-Minister-create-true-blue-Cabinet-cronies-autumn-reshuffle.html#ixzz37UF8F4xX

The problem with this reshuffle is it is being sold as a huge reshuffle etc. But I don't think the public will feel that anything has really changed and it all looks a bit desperate. Has Cameron only sussed that things needed changing now, one year before the election? Was he not paying attention when "party membership has collapsed by 60 per cent since Mr Cameron became leader" and UKIP took tons of Tory votes?

I can see from my FB feed a lot of those in education are delighted Gove has gone, who has replaced him?

Nicky Morgan has replaced Gove.

I like Liz Truss. Unfortunately they have given her Environment i.e. all the usual "climate change" bull.

Does David Cameron really think promoting Esther McVey to Cabinet is really going to attract less traditional Tory voters?

Claig - ah yes that seems feasible then that it's to appease the right wing and give the impression of 'toughness'

LFN - I wasn't talking about the rights and wrongs of the EU, more is there actually a concrete drive to extricate the UK from the EU? Whether that's the right thing has and will be covered by a hundred other threads :)

On balance I think the cosmetic attempt to hang on to the right of the party and the donors plus a sop to the 'housewives' is the most likely.

Thanks.