David Blunkett
The Reformer
Changing the system from inside it, principle turned into change.
David Blunkett is a prominent political figure known for his role as a Labour politician and former Home Secretary. This interview reveals his focus on reforming education and health systems while advocating for mutuality and reciprocity in political engagement.
“With me, Estelle Morris, who was my number two, to actually go to their conferences. Nobody does that anymore. And it was suicidal, but it was also calculated. Two things. One, it gave me an enormous platform because they got covered in those days. I mean, we might come to this, but education is not now top of the political agenda.”
“Because Gordon Brown was intent on becoming Prime Minister and was able to create and to hold on to an internal, informal structure which I never even thought about putting together in terms of the future because that wasn't uppermost in my mind.”
“And we will have to reach an agreement. I'm convinced with the French to license boats and to deal with the upstream of the boats. Because if you've not got a boat, you can't send people across the channel. Now, we did it. And for years, it worked. We reduced the number by two-thirds coming across.”
“Problem of the civil service being a bit skeptical. Civil service resistance. What's it about? Is there something a little odd about the system? Because obviously the public's perception is that it's pretty difficult to get things done. The public thinks the whole thing is a bit.”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 77. David Blunkett: Tony Blair, growing up blind, and where Margaret Thatcher went wrong (Part 1)
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