ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the apparent decline of Cabinet government in face of the increasing accumulation of power in the hands of the Prime Minister; a pre-eminence prompted in part by the need for rapid decision-making in an era of nuclear diplomacy as well as the growth in international summitry and improved global communications. This process is traced back to the extreme secrecy surrounding Britain’s decision during the Attlee government to embark upon a nuclear weapons programme and the details of which successive Prime Minister have studiously kept from most of the Cabinet ever since. Although modern Prime Ministers cannot be entirely blamed for the decline in the policy influence of the Cabinet, its influence has been further undermined by the leadership styles and policy-making preferences of Thatcher and Blair. It then goes on to consider the various institutional means by which the role of the Cabinet has been supplemented in the defence arena by the Defence and Overseas Policy Committee (DOP), COBRA and the National Security Council as well as the various forms of ‘war cabinet’ used to direct defence forces in times of conflict.
