The Old Order Changeth Yielding Place To New And God Fulfills Himself In Many Ways...

[sandyRoe]

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/labour-stalwart-straw-stepping-down-3
Will he be missed?

[jno]

great must be the events he can recall

"Always loved working with Jack,a good friend,who remembers like it was yesterday when Moses came down the mountain..."

[anotheoldgit]

You must have his sights set on an even more prestigious position, that being in the House of Lords.

[Gromit]

He's up there with Leon Brittan and Michael Howard as being one of the worse Home Secretaries of the last half century.

[anotheoldgit]

Who would you say would make a great Home Secretary Gromit?

[sandyRoe]

This, from Henry Brookes Wiki page, shows he couldn't have been a paragon.

As Home Secretary, Brooke was not particularly successful, and his actions caused controversy on several occasions, including a failure to provide adequate security for a state visit by King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. Brooke indeed is widely regarded as one of the worst Home Secretaries of the twentieth century.

[bazwillrun]

"Will he be missed?"

Jack who !?

[jno]

Roy Jenkins was a fine Home Secretary.

[ichkeria]

A clever and honourable man who I will always remember for laying into Nick Griffin on Question Time in a controlled but passionate denounciation.
Anyway I don't suppose he'll disappear from view. He's had a pretty low profile for a while anyway

[FredPuli43]

Difficult to say who would be a good Home Secretary. It requires a certain impartiality and an ability not to be swayed by the Party nor its leader nor by the tabloids. Roy Jenkins was good. So was 'Rab' Butler. Michael Howard did not have those desirable characteristics. He once, under pressure from somewhere apparently, changed the law relating to young offenders, notwithstanding that the Bar and the judiciary said it wouldn't work. This proved correct and eventually, without proclaiming it through the tabloids, he quietly changed it back. We tried not to say anything.

[factor-fiction]

I always liked him- he always spoke in a calm, thoughtful and clear manner and stuck to his principles.

[sandyRoe]

And then there was Willie Whitelaw, famously acknowledged by Thatcher with her words, 'Every PM needs a Willie'. Was it him who introduced the short sharp shock for younger crooks?

[jno]

I believe the phrase short sharp shock comes from the Mikado

[craft1948]

I thought he was dead................