Perhaps, it was a clever ploy on Brown's part and was part of the motto "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer"? I fear not. Supposedly he was put there in the name of "a government of all the talents", but if this were the case then where are the leaders not just from the City but from trade unions, NGOs and the rest of the civic community - the people who weave the fabric of society? As the Tories accept the concept of a social recession the Labour Government is battling an economic one. But with the enemy within - a Minister who lead open attacks on the government over its non-dom proposals and then plans to reform capital gains tax (originally all good measures with social justice and fairness in mind) - can Labour really achieve its goals of a more equal society?

Polly Toynbee was right to point out only a few short weeks ago that "Digby Jones has proved to be as damaging an enemy within as the old Militant Tendency". What he was ever doing in a Labour Government is baffling.

So why wait any longer - he's already done enough damage, he should leave immediately and open up space for someone to join the government who is true to Labour's values of fairness and social justice, in fact to put things right instead of appointing a ‘Minister for Fat Cats', Gordon Brown could use this as an opportune moment to appoint a new ‘Minister for Social Justice' (incidentally they already have one in Wales).

Digby would then be free to tottle off, tail between his legs, and rejoin his fat cat friends in the City - the credit crunch chancers who've played as big a role as any in causing the economic mess we now find ourselves in.

The government on the other hand should stop pandering to big business and being apologists for the super rich (let's not mention John Hutton) and should instead concentrate on doing what Labour Governments (are supposed to) do best - putting society first and focus more strongly on greater fairness for everyone.

Gavin Hayes and Zoe Gannon