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Blair forced to reshuffle cabinet
LONDON, England -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been forced to reshuffle his Cabinet after the surprise resignation of Education Secretary Estelle Morris. The knock-on effect of the enforced change saw another surprise switch with John Reid moved from the high-profile job of Northern Ireland Secretary. It was only earlier this month that Reid, 55, took on the extra responsibility of running the province after the joint Unionist-Republican power-sharing government collapsed over an alleged IRA spy ring. Labour Party chairman Charles Clarke, 52, was made education secretary and Reid was moved to become Labour Party chairman. Clarke, renowned as a gruff but shrewd politician, steps into one of the government's most crucial posts after Morris, 50, candidly admitted she was not up to the job. He has already served as a junior education minister. Paul Murphy, 53, currently the Welsh secretary, steps into the sensitive Northern Ireland job. Peter Hain, 52, currently Europe minister, moves to the Welsh office as secretary of state. Clarke was swift to take up his new role. Five minutes after the news of his appointment broke, he took up a frontbench position in the House of Commons for education questions from parliamentarians. It is the second time this year that Blair has lost a top-level minister. Transport Secretary Stephen Byers resigned in May after sustained opposition attacks and an internal feud over his personal assistant sparked by a memo saying the day of the September 11 attacks in the U.S. was "a good time to bury bad news." Morris's resignation was particularly embarrassing for Blair as the Labour leader had put education at the heart of his government's policy. Brutally honest about her own record in office, Morris told reporters on Wednesday night: "How I judge my own performance, it's not been quite good enough for me -- full-stop." "I'm not having second best in a post as important as this," she said after her shock departure from government. In her letter of resignation, Morris said that she had problems running her "huge department" and added: "I am not good at dealing with the modern media." Only 24 hours earlier Blair had stepped in to give Morris a resounding vote of confidence. Opposition Conservatives said the former teacher's commitment to education was never in doubt, but said she had overseen a misguided and over-centralised government agenda. Former cabinet colleagues said that as a junior education minister, before her promotion last year, she had done more than anyone to raise numeracy and literacy levels in schools. But for the last month Morris has been barraged with criticism over the handling of exam results which cost hundreds of students the chance to go to college or university. The debacle over exams centred on the marking of advanced level papers which were in some cases downgraded. The government was accused of dumbing down the standards as it sought to push more children into higher education. Morris also came under fire over attempts to vet teachers before the start of the school year and more recently became embroiled in a dispute over the reinstatement of two pupils who had allegedly issued death threats against a teacher.
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