What an all-black cabinet could look like

Those of us gathered in the cabinet room at No 10 Downing Street last week couldn't help wondering, wistfully, what it would be like if Britain was run by an all-black government. We had got together for the launch of Powerlist 2010, which lists "Britain's 100 most influential black people". In attendance were Mo Ibrahim, the African mobile phone magnate, Baroness Amos, Damon Buffini, head of the leading private equity company Permira, and Patricia Scotland, the attorney-general, who topped the list. Could we do any worse than New Labour and the Tories have done for the last 30 years? Maybe, at a time when Britain is calling out for change, a completely non-white government is what's needed. And in the prime minister's chair? That's Diane Abbott.