.but you immediatley appoint a major political heavyweight to your inner circle? Somebody dead against it, highly vociferous, who would cause major trouble and would take many backbenchers with him.....
I imagine there are other reasons why Boris will be sitting in at Cabinet meetings (apart from the Heathrow expansion issue), but without, as I understand, it a specific role,
You could argue it either way Bagso. That as a known opponent he may be used to persuade others against R3, or, as Skip suggests, it may bind him in to the concept of collective Cabinet responsibility. However, given his hostility to R3, he could of course resign (if he's got something to resign from) and retire to air his opinion from the back benches.
On a separate note, some of us from another thread were probably pleased and relieved to hear Cameron mention the Northern Powerhouse again in his short speech outside number 10 after his visit to the Queen. If R3 does get the go-ahead, I feel the government will need to translate rhetoric into action to reassure the regions that serious infrastructure investment, even when privately funded, is not being confined to London and the south east.