Ministers should check egos at door
WHEN Theresa May’s socalled “war cabinet” arrives at Chequers to try to thrash out an agreed Brexit position the PM should insist that ministers leave their egos with the butler.
It is acceptable for cabinet ministers to fight for deeply held visions of Brexit. But it is utterly unacceptable for people in a position of near-sacred responsibility to do so with their primary focus on how this drama may benefit their political careers.
None of the cabinet ministers who will arrive at the PM’s country house is likely to face destitution if their time in Westminster comes to an end – lucrative positions in the City, media, academia and lobbying would beckon.
But there are men and women the length and breadth of Wales who will worry, keenly, that a botched Brexit deal will jeopardise their employment and their ability to pay the mortgage and feed and clothe their children.
We have ensured years of wage stagnation, with Wales sitting in a miserable position at the bottom of the earnings table. Quite simply, it would be an egregious act of irresponsibility for any minister to do anything that makes it less probable that the likes of Airbus will invest in our country.
Wages and skills are directly linked, and we must ensure that Wales radically increases the number of well-paid, highly skilled jobs within this nation. That would be a big enough challenge if the country was staying in the EU; it could be desperately difficult with a hard Brexit.
Mrs May will seek to find a vision for Brexit that will be palatable to cabinet ministers with significantly different ideas for how Britain can best prosper in the future. She will want to avoid walk-outs and resignations that could plunge not just her premiership but the economy into a bout of dangerous instability.
If the priority is assuaging egos and pacifying factions it is hard to conceive of how Britain could arrive at the best possible Brexit deal. But if the absolute, defining goal of this exercise was to minimise threats to employment and earnings then this collection of undoubtedly high-IQ individuals might have a chance of coming up with a blueprint for Brexit that could serve the country well.
Such an achievement would be a source of pride in decades to come. But invidious, indulgent and vexatious politicking at an hour of high national risk would be reckless, callous and shameful.