It is pointless, counterproductive, waste of time for a Prime Minister to attempt to micro manage his cabinet. It always ends in tears. It is remarkable that anyone wants to be leader of the Tory Party. It is like a scene from Shaun of the Dead where zombies roam the streets biting and infecting members of the public. A few manage to hole up in a local pub, but the Zombie hordes descend on the place whilst our heroes think of new ways of lopping off their heads and and the parts of their bodies that slow them down. So we REMAINERS are holed up in the pub and trying to protect backbenchers from being bitten by Cash, Redwood, Bozo and anyone with a bone in their name.
Well, last week David Cameron hopped out of the back door of the Bonkers Arms and escaped from the blood, gore and general insanity with his family for a few days in the sun. What could go wrong? The Labour Party is more interested in drawing up punishment lists, the collectivisation of our farms and tractor production in East Cheam than winning elections. And what is the point of elections anyway? The workers have been brainwashed by Murdoch and the Zionist media so democracy is a myth. It is purity of argument that matters. We will fight them in the twitter zone, on Facebook and Whatsapp. There will be no surrender.
So a few days of sun and Sangria would do just the trick. Until an aide rushes over with a mobile phone. “It’s the cabinet secretary sir, I’ve put him on your tastefully patriotic bling earphones”.
“What’s the problem Jezza?”
“It’s Javid sir, he seems to have disappeared”.
“Sounds rather good news to me.”
“But he’s gone to Australia”.
“Sounds even better”.
“But Prime Minister he is going on a freebie with his daughter at a time when TATA are about to close Port Talbot steel works. Stephen Kinnock is all over the media like a rash and has travelled to India”.
“Jesus. What about Soubry?”
“All over the shop I’m afraid. Seems to think we will nationalise it”.
“Get him on the phone now. Tell him he is in deep shit and order him home. Oh, and tell the twat that he has got to grow some balls and get his arse down to Port Talbot and look the poor sods in the eye.”
And this is how a crisis can turn into a catastrophe. You expect your ministers, particularly the ones with delusions of grandeur, to have a bit of common sense. Ministers have been working really hard behind the scenes to help TATA offload the steel works and save jobs the last 19 months. They have persuaded the EU to put in 37 anti dumping measures and 16 against China. But there are two inescapable truths. How do you deal with world steel over production? And how do you punish China without starting a trade war where we will come out worse? But this is not the image that the public will see. Their perception is of a government that doesn’t care. Who are heartless. Who would prop up the banks but not the livelihoods of thousands of hard working men and women. At a time when the Tories are winning seats in Wales and just before the May election. This is criminal negligence by Javid. It fails the fundamental rule of politics. The Daily Mail Test.
He will no doubt tell us that there would be nothing he could do. That government is working hard behind the scenes. Both are true. Being seen to be on a jolly when thousands of jobs are in the balance shows he has minimal political radar, no judgement and is unfit for high office. This was his chance to shine. His chance to show that he is a big beast. He has failed miserably.
But he should not be sacked. It would be a scalp for the press. His must be the ultimate punishment. He must clean up this mess and reassure the people of Wales that government are working night and day to protect their communities. Yet I fear that it will mean the closure of Port Talbot. This is a job for a big beast. Send for Hezza.
