Tory leader of Hammersmith & Fullham says shadow cabinet "haven’t run a piss-up in a brewery"

PublicFinance has this story about H&F leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh:

""My mates are all in the shadow Cabinet, waiting to get those [ministerial] boxes, being terribly excited. I went to university with them, they haven’t run a piss-up in a brewery,’ he said. "They’re going to get a department of state, in one case running the finances of the nation."

Greenhalgh pointed to other countries, such as France and the US, where members of the government had typically served at a regional level earlier in their careers. ‘If you’re going to fail, fail running Alabama, fail running Texas, fail running the city of Paris – don’t just take over the country.’"

Q. A gaffe or a little bit of truth-telling?

A. A little bit of truth-telling.

The lack of experience is why I strongly back David Cameron's support for more city mayors.

Tim Montgomerie

Hat tip to the FT Westminster blog.