The ‘Not Fit For Purpose’ Department - Part 1

“不适宜履行职责”部门——第一部分

Newscast

2026-04-04

57 分钟
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单集简介 ...

As an Easter treat, we thought we’d give you something a bit different. Adam and Chris have got together to have a proper in depth look at the government department that deals with some of the most important and politically pertinent issues of our time - the Home Office. The idea came up in October last year when Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood took over and said it was “not yet fit for purpose” and had been “set up to fail”. She was channelling her predecessor of 20 years ago, John Reid, who first made the ‘not fit for purpose’ phrase famous. With the help of former insiders and home secretaries, we’re asking, if the same verdict can be reached twenty years apart, are the problems in the department fundemental? In this first of three episodes in the series, Adam and Chris are joined by former insiders. They are: - Hannah Guerin, former advisor to Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel - Former BBC home affairs correspondent and Yvette Cooper adviser Danny Shaw - Former Permanent Secretary David Normington You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480. New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Adam Fleming and Chris Mason.It was made by the series producer Chris Flynn with Harry Craig. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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  • Chris, should we explain to people the bold experiment we're about to embark on?

  • We should.

  • So we had a bit of an idea, didn't we, a while ago?

  • I think it was in the autumn, actually, wasn't it, when there was a bit of a flare-up in the Home Office.

  • And you and I, who are not quite in the veteran category yet, journalistically, but certainly have kicked around for,

  • what, 20, 25 years, started realising there was a bit of a pattern,

  • is n't there really, about things that come up again and again around particular government departments,

  • and particularly.

  • The Home Office, which made us think, maybe rather than just covering the story and then moving on to the next thing,

  • we ought to give ourselves a bit of space to think and to share that thinking with newscasters

  • around whether or not the Home Office, well, how it works, whether it works, could it work better, is it too big?

  • The kind of questions that tend to come up over and over again when things that the Home Office does make news,

  • which is frequently.

  • So we 're making a three-part mini-series where we will delve into the Home Office,

  • the policy, the politics, the personalities, the history and what 's happening now.

  • So episode one, which you're listening to now, we will talk to some former advisors and people from behind the scenes.

  • Episode two, we will get two former Home Secretaries to sit down and go head-to-head about their time in office.

  • And in episode three, we will talk about how we in the media cover this incredibly complex,

  • controversial government department.

  • So that is coming your way in this Newscast miniseries.