Downing Street has admitted Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman will not attend Cabinet in their unpaid, potemkin roles as ‘Special Envoy on Global Finance and Cooperation’ and Adviser on Women and Girls’ respectively. As was obvious the moment these positions were announced, they exist purely as a firefighting exercise. A bit like bringing a water pistol to a forest fire…
Asked specifically what Brown would be doing, the spokesman told the Lobby hacks:
“…Obviously the global finances are very sharply in focus because of the conflict… there’s nobody better qualified in international financial arrangements and multinational arrangements to make our economy stronger… Gordon Brown is uniquely qualified for this role… he will now focus on international finance partnerships to support defence, security, and the economy.”
You’d think the incumbent Chancellor would be uniquely qualified to do those things. She apparently is too busy rowing with her sister at children’s birthday parties…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”