ABSTRACT
Anyone who has had the privilege of mingling with the assembly of Cabinet ministers as they wait outside the Cabinet room at No. 10 could be forgiven for mistaking it for the preliminary to a Sunday school outing. These twenty or so men and women bear with equanimity, even lightheartedness, the formidable task which lies ahead: the resolution of weighty issues which will affect, perhaps change, the lives of their fellow citizens. But once Cabinet begins, it is all quite different - or at least it is all said to be different, because I am speaking from hearsay, as I have never assisted my minister at a Cabinet meeting. The highest organ of executive government meets very privately, usually once a week, for two or three hours. A summary of its discussion is circulated the day after the meeting and Whitehall, or that part of it which is now allowed to see the record, eagerly scrutinises its marching orders.
