I just want to point out, that in days of old, when a Govt department went belly up or committed an act of gross incompetence/negligence/etc, the Minister in charge was accountable and it was his responsibility and his job to manage the department he heads. How has it come to pass that UKBA/the Home Office et al, are now considered solely accountable when things go wrong? How has the "responsible" Minister managed to distance herself entirely from responsibility or accountability in managing the departments she is paid to oversee and how has all accountability been delegated elsewhere? Earlier in the week, I noticed on the news again some babbling about UKBA failures. I recall a time when no one wanted to head the Home Office because it was seen as a quick way to fall on your political sword. Now it seems the Minister is completely abnegating any responsibility and simply says "It was him" or "that department is badly run" at every turn (which used to be known as "lying to the Public" btw) instead of doing the job she is paid for which is to organise the department effectively. Personally, I'm not interested in hearing long lists of failings and whinings from the Minister. IMO it's her job to know those things and to resolve them, not mine. That is her business, not mine. I pay her to run her business effectively, not to burden us with management issues and pass the buck elsewhere. Why is the Media reporting this continually to favour the Minister? I'm sure no past Minister was able to sidestep responsibility...
"Days of old ", when the sun shone every day and beer was only six pence a pint and Scotty people lived in caves reciting Burns doggerel to each other. Pitiful. You can keep up your silly customs , but we are in the 21st century . And clocks went forward last week .
