Is Geoff Hoon finished ??
 

I think Cherie Blair authorised the name leak . She is " not a minister " ( LOL ) and therefore Tony is protected and she cannot be made to resign . Typical devious New Labour

Hoon can't be finished because as a minister he cannot possibly make a mistake.

I can still remember Lord Trefgarne, Minister for Defence procurement making a ludicrous statement after the High Leg Combat Boot/fatigue injury scandal saying that "we don't make mistakes" in reference to ministers at the MoD and procurement.

If they always get procurement right, then who am I to question anything else? After all, he is a peer of the realm and a former minster so he must be right and he couldn't tell a lie!

(I have a sudden urge to shout Aitkin, Archer, Profumo.........all good honest men.)

:mad: :mad:

Any supporting material or reason for that? Or just rightwing obsession with her, imported from the US Republicans' loathing of Hillary Clinton? Why should I LOL at the statement that she is not a minister? She never has been, has never held any government post, doesn't have and never has had any authority to do so - looks like a waste of bandwidth to me. Did you get her mixed up with Alistair Campbell?

PS, Blair and Hoon should resign.

maninblack, whilst Profumo was a prat in line with the others you mention, I believe his subsequent actions in dedicating his life to charity are unlikely to be emulated by either Aitken or Archer!

I thought we voted Duncan Sandys the "worst ever S of S" some weeks ago. Let us not forget that he was a Tory.

Profumo did at least DCO with the odd babe or two!

Will it make any difference to you chaps if Hoon does go?, there are probably twenty clones waiting in the wings to fill the slot.
I am old enough to remember when Ministers did resign if something went tango uniform on their watch.
Buggah me, I must be old.
I heard something interesting a few years back, dunno if its true or not,I was told ministers are entitled to a separate pension from each ministry they head, perhaps this is the reason for the political musical chairs,and the constant ministry swapping.
Anyone know if this is true?

John Reid could retire now if that's correct...

I'm pretty certain that they recieve just one pension, though, no matter how many government departments they mess up.

I don't think so. Possibly they'll get a ministry and a parliamentary one, but the rules are probably similar to the civil service scheme (as they're part of it)

Why wasn't SofS for Defence Hoon at RIAT instead of Silverstone?
I would have thought that would have been much more in line
with his portfolio. Any thoughts?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, John Reid visited RIAT when he
was Shadow SofS for defence. Watch this space...... :\

Newswatcher...'tis true that Profumo spent his days doing good work, in fact Aitkin is doing the same having "Got God" whilst getting a stripey suntan and has dedicated his life to good works.

It doesn't alter their Ministerial track record of lying through their teeth though.

It is interesting to see Archer continuing to be an oxygen thief though. If prison was about reform then the state has just wasted a lot of money on that little twerp when the Chinese would have sorted him out with fifteen pence worth through the cranium and saved the taxpayer a small fortune. :E

'ckinell maninblack - is 9mm really 3 bob per round?

I feel another procurement scandal coming on!

Rattus, not sure to be honest but the 1990 figure for 7.62 was 11 pence so I estimated. It would be money well spent though.

:ok:

This is how Hoon treats MoD staff:mad:!
Fury as Hoon skips Kelly funeral to take holiday

Leaves yer speechless doan it!:mad:

Buffoon is a d***head of immense proportions. How he can even consider not being at Dr. Kelly's funeral is unbelievable. But there ya go. He is a top class fool.

In answer to the original question - "is Geoff Hoon finished?"- I very much hope so. We don't need plonkers as Defence Secretaries.

Geoff Who?:hmm:

Not to worry, John Prescott will be going to the funeral....

The question is, were they asked? At least one paper is reporting his widow as asking Hoon not to attend. Personally, I'd ask Prescott to stay away as well. It seems a political gesture which would seem offensive in the cirumstances. I'd also ask the press, particularly the BBC in all their guises, not to attend.

I don't blame Hoon for staying away, TP's statement would have been as accurate if the word not had been omitted. The problem is the impression given by his being on holiday at the time.

He may well have valid personal reasons, but governments and politicians live in a world of impressions and PR. If his personal reasons prevent him from acting accordingly, he shouldn't be in the post. At least one cabinet minister has gracefully resigned in the last few weeks for exactly those reasons.