Blair criticised over reshuffle
Tony Blair’s decision to use his ministerial reshuffle to bring an unelected special advisor into Government has generated significant controversy.
Downing Street policy adviser Andrew Adonis was granted a life peerage and appointed junior education minister.
Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrats education spokesman, told the Today programme he thought it was an “appalling appointment” and accused Mr Adonis of being the architect of controversial polities such as top-up fees and city academies.
Mr Willis said: “If we’re actually saying that with a majority which is still well over 60 that Tony Blair cannot find one of his elected MPs to become an education minister, then my goodness the Government is in an incredibly sorry state.
“This is a man who has consistently undermined successive ministers and successive secretaries of state and in fact has been Tony Blair’s henchman in the Department of Education and Skills, actually running education policy from the Number Ten policy unit.”
Peter Facey, national coordinator of the Elect the Lords campaign said that the appointment of Mr Adonis was ironic – as he has previously argued for a more democratic House of Lords.
Mr Facey said: “While we welcome the promotion into government of someone who has passionately argued for democratic reform of the House of Lords in the past, it is curious that Tony Blair was unable to find anyone in his backbenches suitable for the job just four days after an election.”
But, the appointment was defended by Education Select Committee chairman Barry Sheerman who insisted he had not seen any evidence that policy had been run by Mr Adonis.
Mr Sheerman, speaking on Today, said: “We have to constitutionally have ministers from the House of Lords covering all the departments and it’s not unusual to take someone like Andrew Adonis and put him in the House of Lords with a job.”
He added: “Lord Sainsbury, one of the most successful ministers over the past year as a science minister has been an outstanding success. And Adonis knows more about education than almost anybody around.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is set to address Labour backbenchers tomorrow as the newspapers continue to be full of stories of internal Labour discontent with his leadership.
But support from the Prime Minister has come from senior cabinet members and unions.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said that talk of a leadership challenge was a “complete distraction”.
Mr Prentis said: “Talk of a leadership challenge and stalking horses is a complete and utter distraction from the programme of business for Labour’s third term. What we should all be concentrating on at the beginning of this historic third term is how we make life better for ordinary hard-working people.”
