Sir, As a British citizen abroad, I have been following the fortunes of the Blair Government closely. Up until this reshuffle, I had dismissed calls for the departure of the Prime Minister as a media frenzy created by those for whom such a departure would be beneficial.
This reshuffle shows a Prime Minister who has decided to establish personal control over key departments by appointing those loyal to him and, perhaps more importantly, those who are unquestioning when taking orders. One could ask why there is even a point having a Cabinet if the best people are not in their deserved jobs. Jack Straw served his country well and the relationship he developed with Condoleezza Rice would have been of huge benefit to the UK. Perhaps independent thinking and voicing an opinion of his own did him in.
No matter how successful a Prime Minister has been, it is at this stage, when the ruthless power-hoarding starts, that he should go.
ERIC SUKUMARAN
Philadelphia
From Lord Lester of Herne Hill
Sir, The latest Home Office fiasco is not unexpected. It is the product of mismanagement by the Prime Minister and his three Home Secretaries. Instead of making the existing system work they have opted for ever more law-making. Half-baked illiberal measures have emanated from Downing Street, pressed on Home Office ministers by the Prime Minister’s entourage.
Legislative incontinence has resulted in a stream of populist, controversial and unnecessary Home Office measures on terrorism, immigration and asylum, crime and disorder, religious hatred, police organisation, identity cards and the criminal justice system. The preparation of these has diverted the attention of Home Office ministers and their advisers from the need to make the existing system work properly. Performance targets have been used as a substitute for hands-on management.
Instead of introducing effective measures to reduce the size of an overcrowded prison system and heeding the warnings by HM Inspector of Prisons and other watchdogs, the Home Office has left the prison, probation and immigration service struggling to cope with an impossible situation.
Instead of creating a department of justice — criminal and civil — the Prime Minister has been content with a system of government that burdens the Home Office with too wide a mandate, and which splits criminal and civil justice across two departments.
Systemic remedies are urgently needed. They will not be introduced under the current regime and the fundamentally flawed system will be part of Tony Blair’s legacy.
ANTHONY LESTER
Sir, Mr Clarke has been Home Secretary for just 17 months. He has tackled huge problems, notably in the field of terrorism, with skill, vigour and integrity. No one with any knowledge of government would expect him to have personal involvement in releasing foreign prisoners. Mr Clarke has declined offers of other posts and has left the Government. You say (report, May 6) that Mr Blair underestimated his fierce pride and strong sense of principle.
Mr Prescott has held high office for nine years. Can anyone identify a single genuine achievement in that time? He has been relieved of all departmental responsibilities but is clinging to his title and trappings. Mr Blair can hardly have underestimated Mr Prescott’s fierce pride. But what of the other virtue identified in Mr Clarke?
MICHAEL CHANCE
Saffron Walden
Sir, The new Home Secretary inherits a department in danger of lurching from one crisis to another. We urge John Reid to listen to professionals, parliamentarians and the public and rethink plans to force police authorities across England and Wales to merge. The current proposals are being rushed through amid growing concern that they will lead to a damaging reduction in performance, a collapse in neighbourhood policing, and a significant loss of accountability. Serious questions remain about the costs and financing of mergers, the impact on council tax, the timescales for transition and the governance arrangements. Opinion polls show overwhelming public opposition, only two police authorities have volunteered to proceed with mergers, most are opposed and some have initiated legal proceedings to halt the process. The Government claims the support of ACPO, but many chief constables have now publicly expressed their concerns.
MALCOLM KING
Chair of the Campaign for Local
Policing
PAUL DENEEN
Chair of West Mercia Police
Authority
MARIE DICKIE
Chair of Northamptonshire Police
Authority
PETER JONES
Chair of Sussex Police Authority
DAVE MCLUCKIE
Chair of Cleveland Police Authority
IAN ROBERTS
Chair of North Wales Police
Authority
PETER NURSE
Chair of Cheshire Police Authority
Sir, Tony Blair has often been compared to Margaret Thatcher — and one senses he wasn’t always entirely dismayed by the comparison, with its resonance of robust leadership.
However, in these concluding days of the Blair premiership, one senses another similarity coming ever more to mind. Boris Johnson expressed this presciently as far back as 1998: “One day, in a way we cannot foresee, this demi-god will complete his imitation of Thatcher. He will be turfed out with tears and ignominy. It is the common fate, as Enoch Powell said, of all politicians.”
However, despite disagreeing with Mr Blair about his position on Iraq, I respect and value the Prime Minister for what he has contributed over the past ten years. I would like to see him leave with dignity, at a time of his own choosing. The present moment may provide his last chance of achieving this.
MARTIN TREACY
Cardigan
Sir, The man who should be sacked is busy sacking his ministers as sacrifices to the electorate. It is Blair’s head that should be on the block.
Blair’s arrogance is scary and his wounds make him even more dangerous.
MALCOLM NAYLOR
Otley, W Yorks
Sir, Geoff Hoon’s appointment as Minister for Europe is an important step in a process which hopefully will result in the creation of a separate Ministry for European Affairs at Cabinet level.
It is regrettable that not enough attention has been paid to Britain’s role in Europe. Many of our European partners have a cabinet department on European Affairs alongside their equivalent of our Foreign Office.
The concept of a Europe minister at cabinet level who is able to represent the Government at the European high table, freeing the Foreign Secretary to deal with other issues in international affairs, received a boost during Douglas Alexander’s successful tenure.
KEITH VAZ
House of Commons
London SW1
