There is a happy conjunction of aims in William Hague's freshening of the Shadow Cabinet. The most important one is the absolute need for the country to have a vigorous and effective opposition; probing, questioning, and generally harrying a Government which operates normally with the efficiency of Cromwell's New Model Army but which is no more attractive for it. Luckily, this is just what Mr Hague has tried to achieve, if for his own reasons. He does not really need new policies at this stage in the Parliament. Nobody would listen to them and if they were any good, the magpie tendency on the Government benches would appropriate them. What Mr Hague needs is a few parliamentary snappers willing and able to chew on Government policies and persons and this he has probably achieved by his choice of candidates for promotion.
The removal of Peter Lilley from the front line is sensible. He has a reputation for deep thinking and was an efficient Minister, if encumbered with some odd notions - the strangest of which was the supposed willingness of many young girls up and down the country to get pregnant so that they could move into a council house. He will be better as a
policy-former and Mr Hague's age means that Mr Lilley will probably, and thankfully, not be one heart-beat away from the party leadership. Francis Maude has always impressed as having a surprisingly ferocious political temperament only partly disguised by a smile and nice suiting, while the prospect of Ann Widdecombe
in opposition to Frank Dobson at health is delightful. It is a pity that Mr Howard was not allowed to slip out into the night, while Gillian Shephard is unlikely to win much from Mr Prescott unless he has a streak of old-fashioned gallantry hitherto unsuspected.
In Scotland, the news for Tories is good. There were fears that promotion for Michael Ancram and Dr Liam Fox would settle the Tory constitutional affairs brief on someone who was either inexperienced or simply not up to the job. Both were promoted, but Dr Fox's new role as front bench constitutional affairs spokesman will bring an incisive mind and a high standard of oratory to a subject desperately in need of both. Mr Hague's changes have created a Shadow Cabinet of like-
minded people with a hardening of the impression of a more right-wing and Euro-sceptic stance. This, at least, is consistent, but the issue of Europe will not go away and Mr Hague's worst problems will travel in tandem with it.
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