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 Columnist Stella Tsantekidou column: ‘Let’s campaign with Oomf!’ Ah, youth. I was 19 once, too. Ed Miliband was leader of the Labour Party, a university mate… Stella Tsantekidou 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am Comment ‘Let’s spark our political imagination – especially in BAME Labour’ Battered, beaten and bruised. Like many Labour activists up and down the country, the local elections left a… Dan Bilenga 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am Comment ‘Westminster should learn from Scotland: assisted dying isn’t a progressive cause’ My Labour colleague Lauren Edwards MP announced over the weekend, to the surprise of many, that she would… Rhoda Grant 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am
Columnist Stella Tsantekidou column: ‘Let’s campaign with Oomf!’ Ah, youth. I was 19 once, too. Ed Miliband was leader of the Labour Party, a university mate… Stella Tsantekidou 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘Let’s spark our political imagination – especially in BAME Labour’ Battered, beaten and bruised. Like many Labour activists up and down the country, the local elections left a… Dan Bilenga 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am
Comment ‘Westminster should learn from Scotland: assisted dying isn’t a progressive cause’ My Labour colleague Lauren Edwards MP announced over the weekend, to the surprise of many, that she would… Rhoda Grant 18th June, 2026, 6:00 am
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‘Let’s spark our political imagination – especially in BAME Labour’
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