Posted by SallyW6 on Thursday, 11 January 2007 13:53:35

What a shame that the Prime Minister was too irresponsible to take up your excellent suggestion that the Minister responsible for dealing with Terrorism should be in the Cabinet as well as the Home Secretary! Our day-to-day security is one of the most important issues and it is vital that the person dealing with it gets the recognition that they deserve.

Posted by AlanWCollins on Thursday, 11 January 2007 17:34:20

Of course we need what would effectively be a Minister for Security! The Terrorist Threat is not going to go away, and in fact it is highly likely to increase dramatically, and so the Home Secretary is under serious strain. It is little wonder mistakes are being made if his job is too complicated. We need someone directly accountable in Cabinet responsible for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ in order to help both the workload and ability to perform, both in the "new" department, and the departments formerly responsible.

Shame on Tony Blair for rejecting a good idea.

Posted by orpman on Friday, 12 January 2007 09:39:46

You make a good point - the Home Office needs improvement and I'm pleased that you're standing up for the views of the majority of the British people - it's a shame that the labour government can't do the same.
How are you going to tackle the fact that Blair didn't answer your questions? - you shouldn't let him get away with it!

Posted by lawstudent on Saturday, 13 January 2007 04:37:10

I really like to see these after-PMQs talks. Very good. Really liked the 'morning in the life' as well. I'm a traditional Tory, if any Tory, but whatever I think of the ideas that you have brought into the party, I can only praise the way you've brought politics down to a personal level. Thanks!!

Posted by canvas on Sunday, 14 January 2007 12:32:49

JohnReid, be careful of the libel and defamation laws - they apply to the internet as well.

Posted by canvas on Monday, 15 January 2007 20:52:26

JohnReid is history LoL - where did he go?! :)

Posted by CliveLarman on Tuesday, 30 January 2007 02:36:00

The idealists will hate me for saying this, but hopefully a pragmatist or two will leap to my defence!

In a Britain where all the parties have moved closer to the centre ground, the ability of a party to form an effective management team has become an increasingly important issue. No one seriously believes that the Labour party doesn’t care about the issues within the Home Office. This is a simple issue of effective management. And significantly, an area where the Conservative party has always been strong, and the Labour party has always been weak.

There are examples of management failure throughout the Labour government, maybe these should be picked up on too.

A thought that comes straight to mind is the failure to order enough bullet proof vests in time for the Iraq war. Is it just me? Or doesn’t that sound like the most basic item of equipment a soldier might need after a gun?

Or perhaps you might consider two consecutive interviews I watched on TV a couple of weeks ago. The first was by the chairman of Barclays bank who intelligently pointed out that first time buyers are priced out of the housing market, because lack of planning permission renders supply unable to match demand. Next we hear Tony Blair failing to even notice this most basic principle of market economics, and coming up with strange ideas about shared equity.

And then of course there’s Gordon Brown, forever slipping in ever more rules and taxes, which turn the task of running a business into an ever increasing nightmare of red tape and complexity.

I know I’m getting increasingly off the point of the Home Office, but I think that it is just the tip of an iceberg, of a failure to understand any of the basics of management, market forces, or business administration.