Martin Mullaney takes unusual vow of silence after joining the cabinet

Officially, Mullaney is biding his time and continuing to receive "briefings" from council officials before commenting on leisure matters.
More realistically, he is attempting to find a way of working out how he can respect cabinet collective responsibility while remaining true to himself.
It could be difficult for someone who has criticised many aspects of official council policy in the past year or so.
He's questioned the need to get rid of the Central Library, commented unflatteringly on the proposed Olympic swimming pool complex and waged a campaign for more buses rather than an expensive city centre extension of the Metro tram system.
He also criticised former cabinet leisure member Ray Hassall for not doing enough to safeguard the likes of Moseley swimming baths.
Arguably, it was his reputation for being a fully paid-up member of the awkward squad that persuaded fellow Lib Dems to promote Mullaney to the cabinet.
Leisure scrutiny committee chairman John Alden, himself a former cabinet leisure member, commented a tad unhelpfully that Coun Mullaney was "still attempting to get to grips with his portfolio" and would probably submit himself for questioning at a future meeting.
And for good measure, Alden added that only scrutiny could ask the awkward questions that "cabinet members don't get the time to ask or perhaps decline to ask".
If Mullaney had turned up at the scrutiny committee he would have received early warning of a highly controversial issue heading his way.
Leisure officers have almost completed a review which seems certain to recommend closing some of Birmingham's loss-making municipal golf courses.
The seven courses lost £400,000 last year and were £1 million short of income targets set by the council.
Asked about the prospect of losing golf courses on his watch, Mullaney said he wanted to keep all facilities intact if possible.
He also pointed to growing fears among backbenchers that a redundant golf course would be an ideal location for developers to build some of the 60,000 new houses that the government would like to see in Birmingham by 2026.
The trouble is, if Coun Mullaney is serious about saving the golf courses he must persuade his cabinet colleagues to turn a blind eye to continuing losses.
Income targets set for the municipal courses are ridiculously high in a climate where over-provision means that most West Midlands courses, public and private, are struggling to make ends meet. You might almost wonder whether the targets are deliberately unrealistic in order to justify closing several courses.