ALL OVER BOARD!

With poor election results and the impending departure of their leader, Labour MP’s were further rocked by the news that John Reid, the current Home Secretary, intends to resign from front bench politics when Blair steps down.

Why has Reid, seen by many as the only “heavy weight” capable of taking on Brown, suddenly taken on the roll of a chicken? The Guardian postulates that Reid views his involvement in any post Blair set up as being divisive to Gordon’s chances of future national election success. What most papers have ignored however is the perilous state of the Home Office itself, a department which is quickly becoming an elephant’s graveyard for politicians; ask Charles Clark, Reid’s predecessor and a man tainted with failure for his part in the governments immigration policy. Reid, a seasoned political campaigner, is a good judge of a pigs ear when he sees one; home security, the police, immigration and the international fight against terror forced him to split the department into two under the asinine assumption that halving your problems would half your troubles. However, Reid has clearly realised that he is the captain of a sinking ship, and rather than stay at the helm, has gone over board early.

With a new Ministry of Justice due to come into being this week, Reid has shown poor commitment to both his party and the government. He has also left Brown unchallenged, no doubt with the Scotsman’s already over inflated ego further expanded with the lack of anybody with a spine willing to challenge him.