More problems to come at the Home Office

5.27.42pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 29th Jan 2007

John Reid [© Crown Copyright 2005]

John Reid expects to find more problems at the Home Office and has said reforming the department would take two and a half years. He has compared it to peeling back the wall paper to find more problems. This comes after it emerged that the Home Office has failed to block the passports of convicted drug traffickers and Reid was forced to remind judges of the sentencing guidelines because prisons are, says Tony Blair, 'full to bursting point'.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Nick Clegg said "John Reid's creativity in passing the buck is taking a surreal turn. First he blamed his predecessor, then the judges, then the civil servants and now we are asked to believe that the problems in the Home Office are because of dodgy wallpaper in a fictional house in Whitehall. The British public don't want Bob the Builder as their Home Secretary. They want someone who is big enough to admit that the collapse in almost every aspect of our criminal justice system is a direct consequence of 10 years of mismanagement by New Labour."

Sir Menzies Campbell added "Another day and another disaster - confidence in the home office among the public must be at an all time low. Home Secretaries have come and gone; Tony Blair has been in position for the last 10 years. Who should take responsibility for the continuing disasters at the Home Office?"