Blair reshuffle: Mixed response

2003-06-13 09:02

London - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's mid-term cabinet reshuffle received a mixed response from London's press on Friday - with his move to bury the post of justice minister largely applauded but the sudden resignation of health chief and close ally Alan Milburn seen as a blow.

"Emergency surgery on the Cabinet," read the headline splashed across the front page of The Times, in response to Blair's quick-fire appointment of John Reid as health secretary in place of Milburn, who unexpectedly resigned on Thursday citing family reasons.

The Independent said Reid's appointment was not a move "to invigorate the Blair revolution" on public services but rather a "patching-up exercise."

"Blair is rocked by great Milburn mystery," headlined the right-wing Daily Mail which, like other papers, was taken aback by the resignation of a politician thought to harbour great ambition.

Paul Routledge, chief political commentator for the left-wing Daily Mirror, claimed Milburn may have quit to prepare a leadership challenge should Blair come unstuck in his pursuit to win a third term in office.

"He is only 45 years old," Routledge said of Milburn. "He could well be a future leader" of the Labour Party.

The Daily Telegraph, a right-wing publication heavily critical of Labour's policies, said "the voluntary departure of Mr Blair's most ambitious disciple speaks volumes about the government's failure to deliver radical change in the public services."

Britain's biggest-selling daily, The Sun, said that in losing Milburn, the prime minister had "lost the backbone of his Blairite revolutionary guard."

The other major change brought about by Blair's reshuffle was the announcement that the role of lord chancellor (justice minister) was to be gradually killed off after a 1 398-year run.

In existence since 605, the lord chancellor has been at once a cabinet minister, speaker of the House of Lords - Britain's upper chamber of parliament - and responsible for the running of law courts in England and Wales, including the nomination of judges.

Welcomed the departure

London's press welcomed the departure of the outgoing lord chancellor, Lord Alexander "Derry" Irvine, who claimed he had retired.

The Daily Mail called his leaving "the one move (in the reshuffle) deserving an unqualified welcome."

It said that as lord chancellor, Irvine "became a joke in the worst possible taste, with his pomposity, arrogance and outrageous extravagance. He will not be missed."

A personal friend of the Blair family, Irvine once drew fire when it emerged that he'd spent £59 000 (about R770 000) of taxpayers' money to wallpaper his quarters in the Lords.

With Irvine's departure, comes a radical shake-up of the judiciary, including the setting up of an independent panel to appoint judges and a supreme court as England and Wales' final court of appeal.

The Guardian said the changes could prove to be "the largest single legacy" of Blair's premiership, adding that "a great step has been taken towards bringing British institutions into the 21st century.

"More must follow," added the left-of-centre broadsheet.

"Fourteen centuries swept away in a day. Bravo for such boldness."

Both the Financial Times and The Sun said the changes were "long overdue."

Only The Daily Telegraph was scathing of the judicial shake-up, calling the move "a coup d'etat by stealth" that showed Blair's "contempt for the rule of law." - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA