Blogging Minister Worries Whitehall
by Duncan
March 6, 2006
UK Cabinet Minister David Miliband, tipped as a future Labour leader, is to become the first member of the British cabinet to set up a blog in which he will publish views that go beyond his ministerial brief.
The Times reports that the launch of the blog, disclosed in a leaked letter, is likely to cause concern among colleagues of the communities minister, who fear that he may encroach on their departmental territory.
Actually The Times spins the story and doesn’t tell the truth. It is civil servants who are most concerned (I suspect a worry over loss of control). I know that at least two of David’s ministerial colleagues are less woried than his Private Secretary (a senior civil servant) and that other senior ministers are also considering it and watching David’s move with interest.
The Government is so mired in corruption allegations and incompetence, Milliband is obviously trying to establish an independent voice for himself. Although, under Cabinet rules, he must adopt a common stand with the rest, there are ways of distancing yourself from the herd if you’re clever … and Milliband is thought to have a brain the size of a moon of Jupiter.
I’m surprised that MP Jeremy Wright didn’t start blogging ;)