Italy finally persuaded Berlusconi to sling his hook and instead brought in a technocratic government of experts.
With wildlife in a sorry state in the UK would you like to see some Ministers in charge of the natural environment who know what they are talking about?
Well, the fact is, that you already have them – at least in Defra! The current crop of Defra ministers are miles ahead of many (not all, by any means) of their Labour predecessors in terms of their knowledge of the countryside and of farming and of nature. That doesn’t mean, as you may have noticed, that I agree with all of their actions but I don’t doubt that they would probably recognise a skylark’s song or recognise a lapwing, meadow brown or primrose. Rather too many Labour Ministers acted as though they were a bit perplexed and rather scared of the countryside, but then many of them may not even have wanted a job in Defra.
And there’s the critical thing about Ministerial appointments – you don’t apply for the job, there isn’t a job interview that even pretends to test your suitability for the role and you may be more interested in the status, salary and promotion than in the actual job you are supposed to do.
Who would you put into Defra as Ministers if you could choose anyone but politicians? What would be your dream Ministerial team? You can be flippant or serious in your answers – and maybe I won’t be able to tell the difference anyway!
But if you treat this seriously then you need people who can get the best out of civil servants by leading them and asking the right questions; you need people who make good and quick decisions; you need people who can balance the calls from the farmers, fishermen and foresters as well as the public and the wildlife that Ministers must consider; you need people who can stand up and say something which sounds interesting and sensible at the drop of a hat; and it really helps if you have Ministers who are anxious to deliver and not to bothered about keeping their noses clean with the PM.
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Now our economy is far worst than the French what chances have we got! All apples all in one basket called finance does not seem to hit the right ‘£note’. As far as wildlife we have our big reserves, Mull and Speyside etc making money but need to show that even a little pond is important as far as ‘coining’ in the praise of locals who see the need for looking after it. Too many people are just looking how to pay the next water or electricity bill. [not sign the e petition – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089 ] May be if money was taken out of those big 6 electric companies and put into nature instead of wind farms we might have a chance.
That is the easiest question I have ever been asked and have no hesitation in saying the one person that comes to mind who fills all criteria in the blog is Mark Avery and indeed with the pressure of the job he would just become that little bit less outspoken and a bit more diplomatic that would make him the perfect candidate.
The problem is Mark you probably consider me flippant.
Dennis – I do