I see Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gave the Fisheries (but also 'almost-everything-else', it sometimes seems) Minister, Richard Benyon, an identification test the other day on which the Minister scored fairly low marks. This makes for good television, and I’m sure the Minister took it quite well, because he’s that kind of bloke, but it hardly gets to the heart of Ministerial competence.
Fish identification is a necessary skill for the fisherman and fishmonger but not really for the Fisheries Minister. If the Minister had got top marks I would have been very impressed. But it is interesting that this little media story coincided with the great Sir David Attenborough saying how important knowledge and understanding of nature is in our modern Society.
I’ve commented before that the way that Ministers are appointed to their jobs is a bit odd – no job application, no job specification, no interview, no test of competence. But the real tests of Ministers, in my experience, is how engaged they are with the subject, how much they listen and learn, how wise are their decisions – none of which is closely related to fish identification.
Thinking back over the Ministers with whom I’ve interacted (and there is a very long list – they don’t seem to stay long which is another disadvantage with the system – as soon as Mr Benyon has learned his fish he’ll be off to Defence or Work and Pensions) there are rather few who knew their birds. The strong exception, of course, was Elliot Morley - a keen and skilled birder. I have a feeling that Mr Benyon would definitely be in the top half, probably the top quarter, of Environment Ministers if ranked on birdwatching ability - but we won't test him on that, we'll judge him on the Natural Environment White Paper, reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and how biodiversity fares during his tenure.
Just think, if running the RSPB were down to your bird identification skills we might have had someone like Lee Evans as Chief Executive instead of Barbara Young and Graham Wynne – what an interesting possibility.
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
Elliot Morley? - isn't he the ex MAFF minister who stopped culling sick badgers in May 1997 and [allegedly - word added by Mark Avery] fiddled his expenses and even Labour kicked him out?
I quite agree Mark, it is much more important in those positions to listen and learn, to have excellent perspicacity and to be able to take the long view, than it is to be a good talker, which these media chat shows encourage. There is always the suspicion regarding the top jobs of industry and politics that there is a touch of "Yes Minister" going on, in other words decision makers move on quickly enough to another, altogether different post, before the results of the decisions made in the previous post come home to roost. That maybe a bit unfair but not altogether I think.
redkite
I was up against Barbara Young and Elliot Morley in the House of Commons all those years ago trying to convince them that they should be protecting Hen Harriers after my birds were killed at Geltsdale and many went missing at Bowland. Dale Campbell Savors was on our side having used parliamentary power to say in the House in 1991 that land Owners were responsible for many Hen Harrier deaths. Dale knew nothing about birds but knew we were telling the truth. So it seems it is not what you know but what you believe in which is the most powerful of motions but sadly the day was won by those with the knowledge of birds!!
Fish identification as such may not be a critical requirement for the minister, but surely it's very desirable for him to be able to appreciate fish as actual living species, rather than just as names attached to quotas and tonnages.