Contentious reshuffle indicates serious concern for national economy

Published on Sunday 5 October 2008 21:32

The best that can be said about Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet reshuffle (your report, 4 October) is that he still has time to complete the job.

The appointment of Peter Mandelson as Business and Enterprise Secretary must be seen as more than a Machiavellian manoeuvre; it is an encouraging sign that Mr Brown is prepared to give national economic interest a higher priority than loyalty to friends. There is a likelihood now that he can survive the current economic storms. That should not preclude the possibility of the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, being moved in the spring of next year and being replaced by the first-ever woman in charge at the Treasury. It might brighten the government's image and prepare the way for a lengthy election campaign and a steady, slow and popular economic recovery.

The Prime Minister must have been aware that Mr Mandelson's appointment would be dreaded by members of his own party. It is to his credit that the has gone ahead with it anyway. The so-called Prince of Darkness may have a number of personal defects, but he has a pretty shrewd idea of the various recipes for electoral success. Labour sceptics should remember that the reason the party moved from cold halls and irrelevant resolutions in the 1990s to one of the most competent electoral machines in western politics is largely due to Mr Mandelson's insight. But his reintroduction to government will only bear fruit if Mr Brown complements the move with more changes in time to a jaded government.

BOB TAYLOR

Shiel Court

Glenrothes, Fife

How charitable of Gordon Brown to rehabilitate Peter Mandelson politically and to bring him back, like the good caring shepherd he is, into very heart of the new Labour family. I understood the American legal "three strikes and you're out" approach, but the "two strikes and you're promoted to a Cabinet position" is a new one on me. If Mr Mandelson is indeed the answer, then the Prime Minister has posed the wrong question.

How long before the cock crows for the third time, and "St Peter of Hartlepool" issues yet another denial of wrongdoing? Our Great Leader, Gordon Brown, clearly doesn't hold the same view as the majority of the British public, that in Peter Mandelson's case, malpractice really does make malperfect.

DAVID A BROWN

Victoria Road

Lundin Links, Fife

Gordon Brown's apparent decision to delay the appointment of Jack McConnell as the UK's High Commissioner to Malawi is not only a snub to Mr McConnell, but also to Malawi and its people.

I was lucky enough to visit Malawi this summer, and the sense of excitement and enthusiasm over McConnell's expected appointment was palpable.

People there believed that the new High Commissioner would be a champion of the anti-poverty cause, and another building block in the strong relationship between Scotland and Malawi. Instead, these expectations have been dashed because of Gordon Brown's dithering and short-term political calculations.

This decision is not about what is best for relations between Malawi and Scotland or the UK, it is not about what is best for the Scottish Parliament and the people it represents, and it is clearly not about what is best for Jack McConnell. It is about Gordon Brown's complete inability to face up to the reality of the future of politics in Scotland and the UK – a future in which he will have very little role to play.

PATRICK GRADY

Dunchattan Street

Glasgow