Should a politician be praised for honesty? Surely not Karen Bradley, who has just admitted her ignorance of Northern Ireland and its politics, prior to being given the post of secretary of state for Northern Ireland (Bradley blunder baffles both sides in Belfast, 8 September). While many will rightly be concerned about her taking on this very sensitive and demanding role with such a naive understanding of how politics works in part of her own country, it should also lead to a grown-up debate about the appointment of ministers in general.
There is also, of course, a question to be asked about her own faculties of judgment and self-awareness.
Her only qualification for the job seems to be that she is an MP. When will there be a chance for the appropriate select committee to scrutinise people who are being recommended for ministerial posts? Our constitution cannot allow for the sort of appointment hearings the US Senate can carry out – but at least this might avoid situations like Ms Bradley’s who, by her own admission, started a new job with little understanding of what she would be dealing with.
Alex Wood
Northampton
• It is hard to top Karen Bradley’s Ladybird guide to Northern Ireland, but surely Theresa May’s Chequers plan still wins the prize. Anyone proposing to separate goods from services clearly hasn’t made it past page one of Peter and Jane Go to The Shops. After-sales service is part of the package – the “free” added extra emblazoned across everything from computers to cars. Separate service from goods and you not only strangle businesses with red tape but you also damage competitiveness and put their call centres out of business. Including the ones in Northern Ireland.
Georgina Tate
Brussels, Belgium
• Karen Bradley’s lack of knowledge comes as no surprise. We know what many Tories think of experts. When Richard Luce was appointed arts minister by Margaret Thatcher, he protested that he knew nothing about the arts. “That doesn’t matter. It’s only administration,” was her reply.
Adam Pollock
London
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