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Yes. Though I'd probably rate Barrot as generally competent throughout his career, (he's often been a minister), while it seems Beckett is not well considered...

The "non-entity" safe pair of whatever would be Rufenacht.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 10:49:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
And Beckett has been in Blair's cabinet from the very beginning and was interim Party Leader just before Blair became it.

People are sure fond of making fun of her caravanning, but the Labour party doesn't seem to agree? What am I missing here?

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 10:56:52 AM EST
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I don't really know a great deal about Beckett. The caravanning is a cheap shot against her. Should she be farting around the world in a plane to take her hols?
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 11:13:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Every single op-ed and editorial cartoon I've seen about Beckett over the past week has made a joke about caravanning.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 11:29:09 AM EST
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The caravanning is a class jibe.

It's not an activity favoured by the upper classes that the politicos and journos imagine themselves to be.

However, Helen pointed to the debacle that Beckett has been involved with. That is a good reason to dispute that she is a safe pair of hands.

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 11:37:16 AM EST
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The "safe pair of hands" characterisation comes from The Guardian (2003) via Wikipedia.

In the case at hand, she's a "safe pair of hand" in that she'll do nothing of her own initiative, and that's exactly what Blair watns in the Foreign Office.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 11:42:00 AM EST
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Thanks for the link on Beckett's work at Defra. Since I was once a mountain shepherd and sheep farmer, it makes me shudder. (As do many of the comments). So Beckett sounds like another out-and-out mindless New Labourite. "We will not tolerate that you say you cannot deliver". Gah that word "deliver"!!!
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed May 10th, 2006 at 12:07:26 PM EST
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