tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post2955798059532946681..comments2024-03-28T22:32:50.562+00:00Comments on Liberal England: Should Vince Cable have been chief secretary to the Treasury?Jonathan Calderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-2952845370063792002015-09-06T15:53:20.738+01:002015-09-06T15:53:20.738+01:00Let's remember that Danny's degree was in ...Let's remember that Danny's degree was in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.Jonathan Calderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-83542217944337776052015-09-06T15:32:11.556+01:002015-09-06T15:32:11.556+01:00I would always feel happier with Vince than Danny ...I would always feel happier with Vince than Danny in charge of economic policy, but let's remember that Danny did have some grasp of what the economy was all about - he had a degree in the subject. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13400588534561290859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-6141230944532807842015-09-05T04:00:24.019+01:002015-09-05T04:00:24.019+01:00Having Cable as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (t...Having Cable as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (the FST is the number 3 in the department, outside the Cabinet) might well have made things worse for the Coalition, the Lib Dems and Cable.<br /><br />It's my recollection that it was reported at the time that Cable refused point blank to be Osborne's deputy (and would never have been Chancellor, having the top government department held by the junior coalition party would have made it almost impossible to sell) and so took a semi-detached position instead. (Which created other problems but they were todo with tuition fees and Cable personally.)<br /><br />Ultimately in a coalition formed to tackle the economic crisis and public spending, the Treasury has to function as a coalition within and a united department outwith. A government can't really have two economic policies in such circumstances (by the time of the yellow box incident things had eased but it still looked like a party trying to be half in, half out of government).<br /><br />In my opinion the real failure of the Lib Dem in this area was in taking the posts for areas it's heavily associated with - constitutional change, environmentalism, the Celtic Fringe, students. Would it have been too bold if Nick Clegg had been Health Secretary? That would have given him an important job the public are concerned about and the NHS the most senior voice in government.<br /><br />(It also might have made constitutional change a less tense area. At times a lot of Conservatives felt Clegg just wanted to be "the Great Reformer" and was pushing ill-thought through proposals to satisfy his activists. A less high profile, more consensual building approach might have yielded more results.)Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.com