Blair may appoint Europe minister in cabinet reshuffle

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is poised to shuffle his ministerial pack, government sources say, with speculation centring on a place at the top table for a Europe supremo.

A number of positions have been empty since former foreign secretary Robin Cook and others resigned over war in Iraq.

With the government keeping alive hopes of a referendum on Europe’s single currency next year and a fierce debate about a European Union constitution now raging, a Minister for Europe may be elevated to the full cabinet for the first time. Until now, it has been a middle-ranking Foreign Office job.

“It should be a key job, not just because of the euro but also the future of Europe debate,” one government source said.

The incumbent is Foreign Office minister Dennis MacShane but he is thought unlikely to keep the new, more prominent post if Mr Blair decides to make the change.

Instead, speculation is hardening that the two Cabinet positions of Welsh and Scottish Secretaries will be merged into one, leaving a space for a European affairs chief.

Peter Hain is Welsh Secretary and has already served as Minister for Europe and Britain’s point man on the Convention on the Future of Europe, charged with producing an EU constitution which EU leaders will decide on next year. He is already being tipped for a reprise role but Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell also has pro-euro credentials and focused on European issues as an industry minister.

With Mr Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown agreeing euro entry is not on now but will be reviewed next year, any lingering speculation that the Prime Minister might move his finance minister and press for a currency switch has evaporated.