By Sir Timothy Garden
The Press and Media commentators were all astonished by the ousting of Robin Cook from the Foreign Secretary slot in the post election reshuffle. Perhaps they should have read The Source article of 30 May which accurately forecast the change. We said then when asking why Cook had such a low profile in the election campaign:
“Perhaps the absence of Robin Cook is an indication that he has moved on to other things in anticipation of a post election reshuffle. With so many difficult policy issues on the boil, we had better hope that there is a serious contender in the wings. It will presumably be too early for Peter Mandelson to be raised again (and that is perhaps a pity). Jack Straw and Geoff Hoon may be the most likely hopefuls. Of the two, Straw might be more likely to stand up to the pressures from across the Atlantic better than Hoon. If Blunkett is to move to the Home Office, the PM will certainly need to find a good job for Straw. Perhaps that means that Foreign Policy will get a better shot in the 2005 General Election campaign.” (Where is Robin Cook, The Source 30 May 2001)
The FCO is likely to welcome Jack Straw as Foreign Secretary. He has established an impressive record during his time at the Home Office. Officials like to have a minister who carries weight in Cabinet, and who has the ear of the Prime Minister. The weekend Press has commented that Straw is more of a Eurosceptic than Cook. This is perhaps wishful thinking by the anti-European media. Cook was less enthusiastic about greater involvement in Europe before he came to the Foreign Office. Experience (and career ambition) taught him that the UK needed to play a much more positive role over Europe. Jack Straw has a better public persona for selling Europe to the electorate, and he can work with the grain of Whitehall in a way that Robin Cook has never quite managed.
There are no lack of difficult issues for Jack Straw to cope with. He will have had his work cut out getting up to speed for the EU meeting in Luxemburg on the Monday after the election. He was also short of junior ministers to support him. The rejection by the Irish referendum of the Nice Treaty has thrown a large spanner into the works of EU enlargement. The centerpiece of the Gothenburg summit at the end of the month should have been the plans for the accession of the next 12 new members of the EU. Now, the issue will be how to manage the Irish problem. There will be close interest at both meetings in the UK post-election plans for its own referendum on monetary union. The signals from Downing Street (Nos 10 and 11) are still pretty mixed, even if the money markets think the Euro is a likely bet.
There was no surprise about the unlamented loss of Keith Vaz as the Minster for Europe. However the rapid return of Peter Hain to the FCO to fill this post is very welcome news. He is a very able politician, who is widely known and respected. He brings real ability into the Europe team and this bodes well for the Government’s approach. He has not always kept on message over the past 4 years, but his qualities have ensured his survival. Another politician who is not known for an ability to keep on message is Dennis McShane. He has been promoted from a PPS post at the FCO to become a junior minister. He is amusing, bright, and a linguist. To see him holding a German audience in fits of laughter makes one proud to have a British politician who can speak to Europeans in their mother tongue. It is an all too rare sight.
In an example of joined up government, Baroness Symons moves from the MOD procurement post to both the DTI and FCO. She is the new Minister for Trade at the Foreign Office. Her experience (and success) as an envoy for the British defence industry on her overseas MOD trips have been recognized by this significant new appointment. She is seen as a successful minister, whose previous civil service and First Division Association experience has allowed her to run her department well.
The two remaining ministerial posts in the FCO have gone to Ben Bradshaw and Baroness Amos. Bradshaw is an engaging and enthusiastic pro-European who, as a former journalist, has cultivated a strong public profile. He was the BBC correspondent in Berlin over the end of the Cold War period, and keeps links with European colleagues. Amos is another serious political figure who cut her teeth in local government in London. She was Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission for five years. She proved herself in the Whips office over the last 3 years.
All in all, the FCO has gained a strong team of political heavyweights. If the campaign for monetary union is to be fought during this parliament, it would be difficult to have put together a better group to take the case to the British public. In any event, it will be a team that can bat strongly for the UK’s wider interests. Perhaps ironically, this is a team more likely to deliver an “ethical foreign policy” than the last; but you can be sure that phrase will be buried.