I didn't blog yesterday because I was trying to work out what the implications of Brown's Cabinet changes were. My intitial conclusions are :
1. Its not so much change as rotation - the same old people, different jobs.
2. Brown's 'administration of all the talents' is distinctly mixed. The appoinment of the former Deputy UN Secretary General as Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN may well be inspired, but that of Tory defector Shan Woodward as Northern Ireland Secretary appears to be driven by getting another Cabinet Minister for free (as he will not be paid a Ministerial salary) and to make up for failing to net Lord Ashdown.
3. Despite the hyped headlines (and the new name for the DTI) there is only one significant change and that is splitting education in two. Only time will tell whether that is effective at giving more focus to its constituent parts, or whether it will be a bureaucratic nightmare.
4. Lack of Deputy PM is relatively irrelevant - Ed Balls is his true deputy.
