Slop-Gap and Son They are not only old-fashioned : they
are old. Between them a hundred years older than Sir Alec's Cabinet. And some of them have been appointed with the strange reassurance from the Prime Minister (carefully communicated to the press) that very soon they will get the old heave-ho and be replaced by younger and abler colleagues. To be tired after thirteen years is bad enough. It must be unusual for a Cabinet to announce that it is tired before it starts.
Some of the selections, Roy Jenkins as Minis- ter of Aviation, for example, are excellent. Some of them, such as the swap of Crossman for Stewart, are shrewd. Some are barely comprehen- sible. We are to have a Colonial Secretary once more, although independence even for Gambia (population 316,000) has been charted. True, the difficulties of planning the constitutional future of the Seychelles seem nicely matched td the abilities of Mr. Anthony Greenwood, but one suspects that the only possible reason for his inclusion, even in this Cabinet, is that Mr. Wilson thinks it safer to have him in than out. Perhaps he's right. With Mr. Houghton's appoint- ment we are back to Overlords, and then there is Mr. Cousins. Oh yes, there's Mr. Cousins! But I will reserve my greetings to him until I can deliver them personally in the House of Commons.
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