Tuesday 8 October 2013

Norman Baker Moves On



 Norman Baker
In a surprise move Norman Baker has been moved to the Home Office in one of the biggest shocks of the coalition cabinet reshuffle. 
The Lewes MP, who until the re-shuffle has served as transport minister, has replaced fellow Liberal Democrat Jeremy Browne as Minister of State.
Baker has worked closely with the transport industry and has been involved in particular with support for buses and will be missed for his understanding of the issues faced by bus and coach operators and local authorities supportive of public transport.
Robert Goodwill, 56, MP for Scarborough and Whitby since 2005, and a former MEP, has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, and is expected to take on the ‘buses brief’.
What this means to the transport industry is hard to predict, but during the almost 3½ years Norman Baker has been involved with the transport brief he has developed a great knowledge of the industry and in doing so has been able to take balanced judgments in respect of the industry and what it is trying to achieve.

David Gambles