The proposed split of the Home Office is fast approaching. In a department that has just taken its latest victim with John Reid announcing his retirement from front bench politics at the weekend (nothing to do with the fact the Brown would have pushed him anyway), it has been deemed too difficult a department for one man to run. In the past 6 years, Straw, Blunkett, Clarke and Reid have all failed where many have before them. So, the solution is to split the department up leaving the Home Office to largely tackle terrorism and merge the National Offender Management part with the Department for Constitutional Affairs. This is what has become known by the press as the Ministry of Justice. Brilliant. Not sure what benefit we will be from this, but the Ministry of Justice sounds very Marvel comic. I also can not tell you how much it will cost, because the Government won't tell anyone. However, expect it to be mind boggling large as government estimates (and we all know how short they often come up) suggest.
"The starting budgets of the [slimmed down] Home Office and the Ministry of Justice will be about £8bn-£9bn each" a Home office official has reportedly said. Officials are also concerned that the "new" department is "doomed to failure" and is likely to be more like a Ministry for Propaganda and Misinformation. Great. £9bn of tax payers' money on another doomed to fail project that will spreading nonsense to all.