Home Blogs & Views Birmingham Mail Columnists Jon Walker

Not so multi-tasked

Feb 6 2008 By Jonathan Walker

GORDON Brown made history when he appointed Redditch MP Jacqui Smith as Britain's first female Home Secretary.

But is she really doing the same job as all the men who went before her?

First, responsibility for prisons and the courts was hived off to a new department, the Ministry of Justice, led by Mr Brown's good friend Jack Straw.

Then, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne was given an office in the Treasury - effectively taking immigration out of Ms Smith's remit.

The downgraded role was confirmed on Monday, when Mr Straw issued a statement about the bugging of Labour MP Sadiq Khan. This was a police issue, and one that Home Secretaries would have dealt with in the past.

Ms Smith sat next to Mr Straw and listened to his statement for a while, before leaving him to get on with it.

News Alerts Forums