Under control?
- 10 Jan 07, 01:48 PM
Another PMQs, another Home Office crisis to handle. It wasn't meant to be like this. The home secretary's confession "I'm John Reid and my department's not fit for purpose" was supposed to bring an end to these sorts of crises.
The PM began by deploying what sounded - at first - like the fact that would protect his home secretary and his ministers. All the serious criminals who'd offended abroad were . Later though came the crucial qualifier - there were 280 serious criminals who were not on the computer because there wasn't sufficient information about them. What's more Tony Blair could not answer David Cameron's question - could he give a guarantee that these people had never worked with children? An answer to that is promised soon.
At the time of the foreign prisoners scandal John Reid asked his officials if there were any other similar issues that he should be aware of - and should tell the public about. He wasn't told about this. Now an internal inquiry must find out why. The implication is that, as after the foreign prisoners scandal, civil service heads will roll.
Politically this may prove irrelevant. Even if it's "someone else's fault", voters and parliament hold ministers responsible. This story - and the confusion with which it's been handled - will be a massive setback to the government's attempts to prove that, however bad things were in the past, they've got the Home Office under control again.
