Jim Hancock: Disunity returns after Ruth Kelly resignation

Sep 29 2008 by Jim Hancock, Liverpool Daily Post

I WAS chairing a fringe meeting at the Labour conference last week and next to me was Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary.

She was in good form, tackling a question from the chair of Mersey-travel, Mark Dowd, about the huge difference in spending between London and the North West.

Afterwards, she dismissed suggestions her time in the Cabinet was coming to an end; then came the “Peroni Moment” and she was on her way.

If you haven’t been following this (and why should you?), an insider the worse for consuming the Italian liquor confirmed a Newsnight leak that she was standing down at the next Cabinet reshuffle.

The significance of the Kelly resignation is that it gave two of the Merseyside Three a fresh lease of life.

You may recall that last week I forecast that the three Merseyside MPs who’d asked for leadership nomination forms would be advised to keep their heads down at Labour’s conference, as unity was the watchword. I didn’t meet Peter Kilfoyle (Walton) or Frank Field (Birkenhead). I did see an encounter with George Howarth. Newsnight’s frisky political editor, Michael Crick, tried to interview our man from Knowsley. Mr Howarth declined to comment on the Prime Minister’s future in a rather sheepish manner.

Luckily, our own political correspondent, Rob Merrick, unlike Mr Crick on this occasion, won’t take no comment for an answer. By Thursday, Mr Howarth was talking again to the LDP. The Ruth Kelly announcement had reduced the impact of the Prime Minister’s good speech and the plotting could resume.

To be fair, the MP acknowledged that the address had strengthened the Prime Minister’s position in the party. But Mr Howarth believes the Glenrothes by-election will indicate whether he’s convinced the voters. “If not, the problems will still have to be dealt with”, the former minister warned ominously.

I agree with him, the Scottish contest is crucial.

The Kelly decision also tempted Peter Kilfoyle to resume his salty critique of the Government. On Granada, he was quoted as saying Ms Kelly was a lightweight (not an accusation that can be levelled at the member for Walton) and others of her kind should leave the decks clear for a fight against the Tories.

Perhaps he had himself in mind. Actually, he’s like Manchester MP Graham Stringer. Both are clever men whose abilities have been wasted by the Government, but who I fear have put themselves beyond recall. They have allowed personal bitterness to lace their legitimate criticisms.

When the new Cabinet is announced, Brown confidant Shaun Woodward (St Helens South) might be brought back from Northern Ireland. And I’d like to report that the Eagles Have Landed top jobs. Maria (Garston) and Angela (Wallasey) merit promotion.

No space to muse about the conference fringe, apart from praising Knowsley Council. Once again, it hosted an excellent event which showed why it is the right choice to lead on improving skills in the Mersey Sub-Region which has at last been formally set up.