Ashdown refusal 'puts pressure on Brown'
Gordon Brown will be under pressure to make a substantial appointment to the post of Northern Secretary following reports that Paddy Ashdown turned down an offer to take the job, it was claimed today.
Democratic Unionist MP Gregory Campbell was surprised at claims that the Northern Secretary’s job was offered to the Lib Dem peer in Mr Brown’s first cabinet.
But he claimed that if the former Liberal Democrat leader, who is heading a review of parades in the North, had accepted the job, it would have been interpreted as an attempt by the incoming prime minister to keep Ulster at arm’s length.
The East Derry MP said: “There is no doubt there would have been a huge flurry of media interest if Lord Ashdown had taken this post.
“It would have been unprecedented as we have never had a secretary of state in Northern Ireland who has not been a member of the government party.
“But once that interest would have died down, I think people would have viewed this as an arm’s-length appointment – so there is a double-sided nature to this.
“The question is, who will now be offered the position?
“I would think that the pressure is now on Gordon Brown to make a substantial and significant appointment.”
Current Northern Secretary Peter Hain is bidding to be deputy leader of the Labour Party.
Speculation has been growing on both sides of the Irish Sea that Mr Hain will be reshuffled once Tony Blair leaves Downing Street.
According to BBC reports, the Chancellor approached Ashdown about the prospect of him taking the job.
But in a statement, Ashdown informed the prime minister-to-be: “I could not conceivably consider such a position unless my leader told me that he thought it was a good idea and even if he did, I didn’t.”
Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell also rebuffed an approach by Mr Brown to have members of his party join Labour in the government.
