18th November, 2011, 1:34 pm John Reid: I didn’t say “not fit for purpose” Share this article: John Reid’s tenure as Home Secretary is perhaps best known for his quote that the department was not “fit for purpose”. Except, he revealed last night, that he’d never actually said the phrase. Watch the video below: Tags: Immigration / John Reid / Home Office / Subscribe to our daily email More from LabourList Comment ‘The European Convention on Human Rights: a vital shield for children’s rights’ Even when not explicitly mentioned, children benefit from the same protections set down in the European Convention on… Charlotte Kelly 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am News ‘NATO won’t follow Trump into his chaotic war with Iran’ It is entirely possible that Donald Trump, when attending the fee-paying ‘New York Military Academy’ in the 1960s,… Paul Richards 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am Comment ‘Britain cannot normalise food banks: government must act to end mass dependence on emergency food’ This week, Trussell revealed that food banks in its community distributed more than 2.6 million food parcels to… Helen Barnard & Sabine Goodwin 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘The European Convention on Human Rights: a vital shield for children’s rights’ Even when not explicitly mentioned, children benefit from the same protections set down in the European Convention on… Charlotte Kelly 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am
News ‘NATO won’t follow Trump into his chaotic war with Iran’ It is entirely possible that Donald Trump, when attending the fee-paying ‘New York Military Academy’ in the 1960s,… Paul Richards 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘Britain cannot normalise food banks: government must act to end mass dependence on emergency food’ This week, Trussell revealed that food banks in its community distributed more than 2.6 million food parcels to… Helen Barnard & Sabine Goodwin 18th March, 2026, 6:00 am
More from LabourList
‘The European Convention on Human Rights: a vital shield for children’s rights’
‘NATO won’t follow Trump into his chaotic war with Iran’
‘Britain cannot normalise food banks: government must act to end mass dependence on emergency food’