The Rapscallion cabinet: two down, eight to go

Inner Cabinet pose for a Brexit face-off

I was asked by a friend who shares my despair with the present government which of the present cabinet would I like to see go. I got to ten without pausing for breath. I added Ian Duncan Smith as my bonus ball even though he was no longer in the cabinet after he had screwed up the introduction of Universal Credit and bailed out to avoid the blame.

I excluded Mrs May but the fact that she had appointed the worst cabinet in my lifetime merely confirmed her as unsuitable for office. This together with her inability to answer any questions ever put to her in PM questions or by journalists. Her constant tendency is to repeat a few well-rehearsed but meaningless phrases such as "to ensure that the UK" or "let me make it absolutely clear". This almost always results in making things more opaque as she trundles out her vacuous repetitive riddles.

Back to her cabinet, the common characteristics amongst the ten true blue rapscallions are a mixture of arrogance, pompous manner, inability to analyse facts, doctrinaire views and incompetence. Their lack of ability or inclination to deliver fairness, sustainable or coherent policies, or empathy for the "just about managing", together with their involvement with dubious corporate interests, the mega-rich and alt-right luminaries from the United States makes them a dangerous as well as a deranged bunch.

They are in roughly descending order, beginning with the worst:

Boris Johnson
Michael Gove
Liam Fox

Priti Patel
David Davis
Andrea Leadsom

Michael Fallon
Chris Grayling
Liz Truss

Gavin Williamson

with Duncan Smith as a bonus ball

I was pleased to see that two of them, Michael Fallon and Priti Patel have been vanquished this week, not for their inept performance as ministers, but for inappropriate behaviour. Both of them have already made lamentable excuses for their eviction, which merely confirms their unsuitability for any public office.

As the Brexit debacle continues to rumble on, backwards ever backwards, the NHS continues to crumble and parliament is denied access to information by the leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, the chances are that there will be more departures in the months ahead. With the exception of David Gauke, Julian Smith, Justine Greening and possibly, Amber Rudd, the cabinet is devoid of voices who recognise the imperative of social justice. Sadly, the other forces of common sense on the government benches like Sarah Woollaston, Heidi Allan, Dominic Grieve, Caroline Noakes and the indefatigable Anna Soubrey have been exiled by the whips and castigated by the pro-Brexit media and are unlikely to hold office under this putrid government. What happens next is anyone's guess but given the make-up of the cabinet, Mrs May is far from secure, there will be no taking prisoners by this mob of charlatans.