A musing about Ken Clarke and Cllr Jane Cooper

The Justice Secretary has survived to fight another day. I for one am delighted …

In Iolanthe, the Lord Chancellor sings:

“The Law is the true embodiment
Of everything that's excellent.
It has no kind of fault or flaw,
And I, my Lords, embody the Law.”

I have no problem with Ken Clarke being the embodiment of the law. He is doing things to our justice system which the Labour Party when in government never had the courage to do. On the basis that the purpose of sending a young criminal to jail is to ensure that he learns his lesson and does not offend again what is the point of keeping him in jail a day longer than necessary? What is wrong with rewarding criminals who plead guilty by reducing their jail sentence? Not only does it ensure that the victims are not put through the strain and pressure of a trial (and is there anything more harrowing than a rape trial?) but it also saves lots of public money.

It was a very shrewd move by the PM to appoint Ken Clarke as Justice Secretary. This is a politician at the end of his career with nothing to prove. He is simply doing what he believes to be right.

I can understand why Ken Clarke’s clumsy use of words initially caused some offence. He moved quickly to clarify his position and that should have been the end of the matter. What was rather more interesting was the attempt by his old opponents within the Tory Party to use the issue to finally get rid of him. I am rather pleased that they failed. The coalition needs some experience and grey hair and there is nobody classier than Ken Clarke. Wasn’t it also simply delicious that fate had decreed that the Justice Secretary appeared last night on Question Time which was being broadcast from Wormwood Scrubs prison? God must have been smiling …

I attended last night’s Mayor Making ceremony in Wandsworth. It was a lovely event and it was great to see so many old friends and colleagues. Jane Cooper will make a superb Mayor of Wandsworth. What was fascinating was the atmosphere. The new leader Ravi Govindia has made lots of changes in his senior team. As predicted, most of the old guard have finally been swept away. Youth will indeed get the chance to have its fling. As a result this is a much happier and more relaxed Tory group. The next three years are going to be very interesting indeed.

There is a rather nice personal link between Ken Clarke and Jane Cooper. When Ken was Paymaster General and Employment Minister in the 1980s Jane was responsible for providing hospitality within the department and worked closely with him.

Are you pleased that Ken Clarke has survived? Is the old bruiser proving to be a good Justice Secretary? Does the law really have no fault or flaw?

Let me know your views.