In today’s Westminster Hall debate on restoring nature on a massive scale to help stop climate breakdown there was an important commitment made by DEFRA minister, Zac Goldsmith. . . Several hon. Members talked about the problem of burning peatlands. There is no doubt that they are right; the Government share that view. There has…
Tag: therese coffey
Zac and Pow!
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park, 224 signatures in favour of a ban on driven grouse shooting) has been promoted to fill the void left by Therese Coffey. Zac has had one of the quickest ever promotions having come in to Defra as a Parliamentary Under Secretary at the end of July he is a Minister of…
Ministerial responsibilities at Defra
Therese Coffey has had a promotion (and a payrise) but apparently has no responsibilities at all according to the Defra website this morning. Whereas new Parliamentary Under Secretary Zac Goldsmith seems to be doing quite a lot, and in two departments;
More changes at Defra
Robert Goodwill and David Rutley have left Defra and Zac Goldsmith has arrived. Goldsmith’s role is a joint one at Defra and international Development. The ministerial team at Defra is now Theresa Villiers (Seccetary of State), George Eustice and Therese Coffey (Ministers of State), Zac Goldsmith (Parliamentary Under Secretary) and Lord Gardiner of Kimble (House…
Westminster update
Did you notice that we have a new Prime Minister? That’s not the only movement… Michael Gove goes (to Cabinet Office) – I’m sorry to see him go because I would have liked to see him deliver on some of his best promises. All bets are off on everything – is that any way to…
Therese Coffey – unsuited for her job
The latest in a series of fumbling performances by the biodiversity minister. Would Therese Coffey ever have got her job if there had been an interview which explored the candidate’s knowledge and suitability for the role? It’s a relief that as a Parliamentary Under Secretary we only pay her £96,375 for such consistently sparkling performances….
Only farming ministers have to have some knowledge of their subject
I’m catching up on news items here as I’ve been away from my home computer and driving around the UK, or so it seems, for weeks. Robert Goodwill is the new Minister of State in Defra with responsibility for farming – he is a farmer (although his main crop seems to be dead people). Conservative…
Long-serving Defra minister George Eustice resigns
George Eustice has resigned from the government and from his post as Minister of State in Defra. That post is more senior than Therese Coffey as a Parliamentary Under Secretary and less senior than Michael Gove as Secretary of State. Eustice has been a Defra minister since October 2013 – an exceptionally long time (first…
Defra – political purgatory?
I couldn’t help smile at Jeremy Paxman’s opinion of Therese Coffey in this article from last year. But it was Paxman’s remark that Defra was… … a place of political purgatory, where ambitious politicians suffer torments in hope of preferment somewhere else https://www.ft.com/content/17bedfec-da71-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482 …that really caught my eye. We’ve had some shocking ministers in Defra…
Coffey says no!
A grouse shooter’s moll and Defra minister. Photo: Natural England In a closely argued, fact-packed and loquacious answer to a short question from Rachael Maskell MP (Central York, Labour) we learn much about the workings of Therese Coffey’s mind. Surely, rather than ‘no’, the grouse shooters’ moll meant ‘no comment, no comment, no comment‘? Michael…