On any other day these resignations would have been major news, I have to confess I didn't even notice them despite being on twitter and having my nose in the news websites all day.
What is also surprising is the, quite honestly pathetic, reasons given for them quitting.
Labour said it was "very difficult" to act as a shadow cabinet minister from the House of Lords.
WHAT!?
How is it possible to be more difficult now as a shadow minister than when they were the actual cabinet ministers?
When it suited Labour to have the Government Ministers sitting in the House of Lords it seemed to work fine, now it no longer suits them, the shadow ministers jump like rats jumping from a sinking ship.
I am sorry this is more about Peter Mandelson retiring from Labour politics isn't it? He realises that because of the new politics of the coalition government, Labour are now going to be out in the wilderness for at least a decade and he doesn't want to hang around that long.
I suppose he can look back with pride, this is the third time he has quit front bench politics, however it is the first time it was his own choice though.
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"He realises that because of the new politics of the coalition government, Labour are now going to be out in the wilderness for at least a decade and he doesn't want to hang around that long."
That's a remarkably optimistic assessment of the current situation.
I think as a shadow you have to hold the government ministers to account and you can't do that from the opposite side of the palace. Peter Mandelson's opposite number is now Vince Cable and he's in the Commons. Mandy can't ask him questions either orally or written.
Pretty much exactly what hypnotic said. Realistically, you need to be in the same house as the minister you're shadowing...
To hypnotic monkey and alasdair - you miss my point. You are right that the Minister should be in the same house to act correctly then why did Labour think it acceptable to have them both as Secretaries of State in the Lords?
They had to also appoint a Minister in the Commons to ask the questions, surely if that's an acceptable way to run a government department why could they not have done that as the Shadow cabinet ministers?
Why?
Because it showed them up for doing it badly in Government as well, it should never have been done, it was jobs for the boys and nothing more because it suited Brown to give Mandelson a paid job!
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