00:00 Now, when I was brought into the Cabinet Office in November, I was dubbed the Minister for Common Sense.
00:06 It's not my official job title, as you've just heard, of course, which is Minister in the Cabinet Office without portfolio,
00:12 a position that has been around for over a hundred years and was held by Ken Clark in David Cameron's government
00:19 and by Peter Mandelson during Tony Blair's tenure.
00:22 Perhaps I got the name because I'm a Northerner.
00:26 Perhaps because I'm no-nonsense and straight-talking.
00:31 Or perhaps because I'm a value-for-money kind of woman.
00:35 Ah yes, woman. More on that later. I'm proud to be one.
00:40 To me, at first, this unofficial ministerial title seemed uncomfortable.
00:45 Why? Because it was gifted with a rather large slice of sneer from the pundits on the left of politics.
00:52 And I recognised it for what it was by then. A put-down.
00:56 And yet, this mantle fits me just fine.
01:00 So what of common sense? Aristotle thought common sense helped us form coherent thoughts and make rational decisions.
01:08 It's as important a sense, a sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. In fact, common sense is our sixth sense.
01:18 And Thomas Reid argued common sense allows us to perceive and understand the world in a meaningful way.
01:25 And yet, as Voltaire reportedly noticed, there is nothing common about common sense.
