Our politicians have created an entitlement culture – now they must end it
There is much to welcome in the government reset, despite it not starting well and the sacking of Lord Mandelson, writes Herald columnist Andy Maciver, but they must end this stay at home culture.
Welcome to Labour 2.0, or Labour Phase Two, depending on which Labour adviser has done the briefing about last week’s Cabinet reshuffle.
Now, ok, it has not started well. The end of reset week has been scarred by yesterday's sacking of Lord Mandelson as US Ambassador. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would, for sure, like a mulligan on that appointment which, like all Lord Mandelson appointments, was only ever going to end in tears.
Nonetheless there is much to welcome in the government's reset, precipitated by the departure of Angela Rayner from her jobs as Deputy Leader, Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary. Most obviously, it is heartening that Sir Keir realised that his still relatively new term of office is going sufficiently poorly that a substantial change is required.
In a political discourse dominated by fatalism and gloom, let me do my bit by focussing first on the positive aspects of the reshuffle. The most important appointment, in my eyes, was that of Pat McFadden to the Department of Work and Pensions. Mr McFadden, a Paisley boy, has justifiably gained a........
© Herald Scotland
