My colleague at Total Politics, Amber Elliott, has a minor
Exclusive this morning. She reveals that Peter Lilley hopes to secure a place in a Cameron Cabinet. I think that would be a good thing. He's an expert on welfare reform and I could certainly see him in the Work & Pensions portfolio. If he wins, David Cameron will need to bring in a couple of wise old heads for a couple of years, and Peter Lilley would be an excellent choice.
'Shadow Cabinet', surely?
ReplyDeletePeter Lilley, the man that foresaw the failure (and one of the main reasons for the failure) of Crash Gordon's disastrous tripartite HMT/FSA/BoE system in 1997...and is on record as warning Brown.
ReplyDeleteAh Lilley the coward(?) who signed Better Off Out and then pulled out when he was tempted by a ministerial position promised down the road. Or so I have been told.
ReplyDeleteIt'll probably never happen - because the Conservatives just aren't going to win this election with a majority vote.
ReplyDeleteThere's a strange wind that blew through the UK last week ...and it wasn't all volcanic ash.
The people will decide - hang on to your hats.
Is it bad that I can't think of Peter Lilley without remembering him as Drop the Dead Donkey's "Slimey Git of the Week," 'for 473 noxious weeks'?
ReplyDeleteOh gods, I do hope so. Peter is an honest man, a good man and an extremely pleasant man - too good to be in politics. He is immensely bright, but wears it lightly. He is truly witty, and immensely good company.
ReplyDeleteI wish he hadn't made such a 24-carat arse of himself with his ridiculous Conference songs, because that's not the true Peter. The hint of a suggestion of a chance of the possibility of having him in the Cabinet has really brightened my day. Thank you!
Along with Lord Field of Birkenhead ? Great combo.
ReplyDeleteAlan Douglas
And he is one of the pitifully few MPs who can see through the global warming nonsense
ReplyDeleteNever mind Peter Lilley. Your shadow defence minister, Julian Lewis, believes that equalising the age of consent for homosexuals will lead to a surge in HIV amongst teenagers. There goes the dog whistle again.
ReplyDeleteHow you associate with these people Iain is beyond me.
Anyone has to be better than Theresa May.
ReplyDeleteHe wrote and exscellent book on Incomes policy abck in the ealry 70's - co-authored with Sam Brittain.
ReplyDeleteWorth reading it if you can get it not least because the next govt (Labour-Lib Dem coalition?) will no doubt be re-enacting such polies as they grapple with the almost inevtiable stagflation of the next few years.
Apart from Thatcher, Lilley was indubitably the most widely hated person in her Government.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course he famously bolted from his constituency only to have the new Tory candidate win it.
Now if this is a news item it implies there is a great shortage of Conservative MPs who do not "hope to be in a Cameron cabinet".
ReplyDeleteSo whose cabinet do they hope to serve in - Davis' or Clegg's?
Actually since Lilley is widely regarded as intelligent he would be of benefit to either.
In what way is Peter Lilley an 'expert' in welfare reform?
ReplyDeleteAlthough anybody who goes round promising a 'crackdown' on benefits expenditure sees themselves as an expert these days.
He can pull out his 'little list' of hate figures again.
"of course he famously bolted from his constituency only to have the new Tory candidate win it."
ReplyDeleteThe first part of this is inaccurate, the second is wrong. In 1997, Lilley stayed with the most Conservative part of his constituency (Harpenden), which formed part of a new seat.
The remaining St Albans seat was won by Labour in 1997 and not regained by the Conservatives until 2005.
Peter Lilley was Social Security secretary for several years and deliberately tried to reduce expenditure while protecting those needing it.
ReplyDelete(P.S. Julian Lewis an unlikely homophobe.)