The Week UK - 29.02.2020

6 NEWS Politics

THEWEEK 29 February 2020

Controversy of the week

An imperial PM?

No prime minister in recentyears “has possessed such command

of the political scene” as Boris Johnson,said WilliamHague in

The Daily Telegraph. And as such moments of supreme power

are fleeting,he’sinahurrytostamp his authority on Britain’s

most powerfulinstitutions, be it the civilservice,the judiciary

or theBBC. Anyminister out oftune withhispolicies–even

his former chancellor, Sajid Javid–isshown the door.There

are even reports he wantsacullofthose mandarins–notably

Sir Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury–thought

to be at odds with Toryministersorspecial advisers.Johnson

is looking more likeaUSpresident thanaBritish PM, agreed

The Economist.Walter Bagehotfamouslydescribed the prime

ministeras“primus inter pares”; Johnsonis more“primus

interpoodles”. He hasno bigbeastsinhis Cabinet. Margaret

Thatcher had Nigel Lawson;Tony Blair hadGordonBrown.

Johnson’s only powerful colleagueis hi s“consigliere”Dominic Cummings–the chiefspecialadviser

in charge of hiscentralisation project. Andhecan be sacked anytimethe PM chooses.

At aDowning Street party on Brexit night, Johnson hailed Cummings asa“genius”, said Nicholas

Watton BBC News: it wasCummingswho hadmastermindedtheVoteLeavecampaign,and who

was behind the“GetBrexit Done”slogan thatpoweredJohnson’s election victory.Sokeenhad the

PM beentorecruit this “rule-breaker-in-chief” to workwithhim,heeven acceded to hisdemandfor

contro loverthe networkofspecial advisers (“spads”)working acrossWhitehall–amove giving

Cummings greatleverage overministers. Indeed,the showdown with Javidwasmainly due to Javid’s

refusal to let Cummings select the Treasury’s spads. The PM backedhis chief adviser thattime,said

Tim Shipman in TheSunday Times. But he conspicuouslydid not inthecase of Andrew Sabisky,

one of the“weirdosand misfits” Cummings hired to “shake up” Whitehall, whosparked an outcry

when comments he’d madeaboutIQbeing linkedtorace cametolight .Johnsonwas saidtobe

“furious” that Cummingswas standing by his hire, and“demandedSabiskybesacked”.

Spads are oftenseenas“shadowy manipulators”, saidJamesButlerin TheGuardian. Butthey

do, arguably,“fill aconstitutionalgap betweenWhitehall andWestminster”, bringingapolitical

commitmentand mediasavvy that civilservantsdo not, andcannot,provide. Butif Cummings really

intends touse“thespadnetworkasachannel of influenceand control”for revolutionising thecivil

service, that spells trouble:spads are, after all, “unelected, partisan andbarely scrutinised”.

Cummings“faces an uphill struggle”, said RichardNorton-TayloronOpenDemocracy. Thewily

mandarins havearange of weapons at their disposalfor impedingchange:secrecy;thepower of

delay; the useofcivilservicelanguage,afinely honedtoolfor obfuscationand obstruction.Themost

powerfulrecentPMs,Thatcher and Blair ,both triedtoreformthecivilservice–and both “failed”.

Cummings: Johnson’s ”genius” adviser

Spirit of the age

Good weekfor:

Stormzy,whobecamethe firstcelebrity tobe awardedaVIP

cardentitlinghim to freeGreggs foodfor life.In atweet, the

rappersaid hefelt he had “peaked”whenheunwrapped the gift

fromthePR-savvy high-streetbakery chain.Nando’s hasasimilar

“blackcard” schemeforcelebrities,whichentitl es themto free

meals foruptofive peopleatits restaurants.

Hilary Mantel,afterthe finalpart of herWolfHalltrilogy was

hailedby critics as “magnificent” anda“master piece”–if atrifle

on thelongside forsometastes,at912 pages.Advanceorders for

TheMirror andTheLight,which will be publishednext week,

haveexceededeven those forMargaretAtwood’sTheTestaments.

Aspiringmodels,with theunveiling of the world’s firstbeauty

theme parkinCalifornia.Created by model andbusinesswoman

Tyra Banks, ModelLand will openin May, with amissionto

“bringmodelling tothe masses”.Tickets costfrom $59, for which

yougeta“phierce” digital lookbook,“immersivetheatrewhere

YOUare part of the show”, andaccessto “experientialclosets”.

Bad week for:

Residents ofOxford andCambridge,with reports showing

that the universitycitieshavethe leastaffordablehousingin

Britain.The averagepropertyin Cambridge costs£470,933,

while themean averagesalary is £39,434. In London,the average

propertyis £475,458but the mean average salary is £49,228.

Half-term tourists,afterastorm carryingsand fromtheSahara

shrouded theCanaryIslands in yellow smoglastSaturday,forcing

thecancellationofmostflights toandfromthe archipelago.

Westminster abuse

Foryears, political parties,

the police and prosecutors

turneda“blind eye” to

allegations of child sexual

abuse against high-profile

politicians, according to a

long-awaited inquiry.

However, there was no

“organised” paedophile ring

in Westminster. The £120m

probe–launchedin 2014,

afte rLabour’s Tom Watson

claimed to have unearthed

evidence ofa“powerful

network” –namedanumber

of suspected paedophiles

whose crimes were ignored.

For instance, senior Tories,

including Margaret Thatcher,

became aware in the 1980s

that the MP Sir Peter

Morrison had “a penchant

for small boys”. This, the

report said, should have “set

alarm bells ringing in govern-

ment”, but too often, party

officials played down such

rumours to protect the

party’s image. Similarly, the

report criticised Lord Steel

(above), the former Liberal

Party leader, for failing to act

on reports that Cyril Smith

was apaedophile. Steel said

he thought that Smith’s

crimes had taken placebefore

he becameaLiberal MP, and

were not his business–and

later recommended him for a

knighthood. This week, Steel,

81, resigned from the Lib

Dems, and said he planned

to retire from the Lords too.

Ban on coal and wood

Thesaleofhouse coal and

wet wood–two of the most

polluting fuels burned in

domestic stoves and open

fires –ist obephased out in

England from next year, the

Government has announced.

Householders will still be

able to burn seasoned or

kiln-dried wood and

smokeless fuels. Coal and

wet wood are responsible for

38% of PM2.5 pollution in the

UK, three times as much as

road transport. However,

they are cheaper than the

cleaner alternatives.

An upmarket fashion brand

has been accused of cultural

vandalism for cutting up

letters from historical

figures, and placing the

scraps in limited edition

handbags. The Charles

Dickens bag, which costs

£2,700, hasaconcealed

compartment containing a

section ofaletter the author

wrote decliningaspeaking

engagement. Other bags

contain segments of letters

from Marlene Dietrich,

Charles Lindbergh and

Queen Victoria.

Almost half the flights taken

by British men aged 20 to 45

last year were for stag dos,

while 35% of those taken by

women in that age group

were for hen parties. The

environmental charity

Hubbub, which published

the figures, urged the public

to save money, and CO 2 ,by

partying closer to home.