You’d think with the recent good health in the monthly exchequer returns that the business of running Government would be conducted in an environment of sweetness and light.
But the butting of heads between Ministers and various departments continues, nonetheless.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and the Minister for Justice – both Fianna Fáil men – were out over the weekend calling for changes of fiscal course, albeit from different perspectives.
Jim O’Callaghan wants the marginal rate of income tax to be cut – calling it “imprudent, demoralising and contrary to the public good”.
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Perhaps looking to put his recent travails with the fuel protests and some of his Coalition colleagues behind him, O’Callaghan said he would “like to see proposals coming forward in the budget that would benefit the working people in the country”.
At around the time O’Callaghan was speaking to reporters at the annual Séan Lemass commemoration in Dublin’s Deansgrange Cemetery, Jack Chambers was in a RTÉ radio studio confirming the details of a Sunday Times report that he is pulling the handbrake on some departmental spending.
Chambers said the Department of Education was in need of more money than the budget had originally made provision for – and that others would have to trim their sails.
He said that sometimes “new priorities emerge” – and there was “collective agreement” around the Cabinet table about the need to change course.
Speaking of changing the direction of travel, the Government jet – purchased last year at a cost of €53 million plus VAT – was given an unusual heading yesterday.
The Dassault Falcon 6X which took off from Tenerife last night was carrying the two Irish passengers who had been on-board the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, the MV Hondius.
The jet has been primarily ferrying Ministers around the globe recently – but its 10,000km range enables it to carry out all manner of missions for stranded citizens.
The two are due to spend time quarantining in a HSE facility while medics monitor them for any signs of the serious infection.
Meanwhile in the US, one of the 17 US citizens evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for the Andes strain of the hantavirus, and a second has shown mild symptoms, according to the US department of health and human services.
A French woman who was evacuated has also tested positive, having developed symptoms on the repatriation flight from the Canary Islands. Her condition worsened overnight, French health minister Stéphanie Rist said. The woman is hospitalised and isolated, as are the other four French passengers.
Donald Trump’s mood
Donald Trump famously used state transportation while being treated for Covid-19 – remember his motorcade’s little spin around the hospital in Washington with him waving through the window at supporters?
He did not seem in such a cheery mood when he took to social media yesterday, as Iran continued to refuse him a nice easy win over the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran submitted its response to the latest US proposals for peace talks yesterday – and not before long Trump took to social media to denounce it as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE”.
Wednesday will bring a meeting with the Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing – maybe that will change the dynamic.
With Trump’s outburst we saw the usual spike in the price of oil.
With talk about a potential pause in the federal petrol tax to bring down US pump prices, he could really do with some of those tankers getting through fairly soon.
Of course, so could the Government here, along with much of the rest of the world.
Keir Starmer’s struggle
The British prime minister has other pressing concerns this week. After Labour’s disastrous council election showing, it’s hard not to imagine Keir Starmer is watching out for the proverbial swift knife to the back.
At least one MP is up for a leadership contest.
Catherine West has said she may put herself forward to replace the floundering Labour Party leader – presumably hoping to spur one of the bigger beasts into action. As of last night, Andy Burnham, mayor of Manchester, had been notably quiet.
In response, Starmer has brought former prime minister and loser of the 2010 British general election Gordon Brown back into the room. Brown, who was in situ during the near collapse of the global banking system, has been given an advisory role – and made an envoy on global finance.
Starmer will use an address today and the king’s speech on Wednesday to attempt to reassert his leadership. It’s expected he will push for closer ties with the European Union in an effort to save his skin. Some anonymous voices have been wondering whether he’ll see the end of the week – and if ministers start to walk, he’s potentially political toast.
West believes Nigel Farage, and his once fringe prospect Reform UK, have taken over the traditional role of Britain’s Labour Party and can now better communicate with working people.
Perhaps O’Callaghan has taken similar note of this development.
