Downing Street Says » David Blunkett

» Tuesday, December 14, 2004

David Blunkett

Put to him that David Blunkett had blamed departmental inertia for preventing him from passing legislation on gang-masters, which might have prevented the deaths of 21 cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay, the PMOS said that part of the normal process of government on issues that cut across departments, was that when one department put forward a proposal, it got scrutinized by other departments to make sure it worked That was how you reached a consensus on the best way forward. In this case the consensus settled on supporting the private member’s bill, the Sheridan Bill, which the Government had supported. It was a process which was part of government since government began. It was perfectly natural that different departments would on occasion have different views, because they looked at things from their own angle. Questioned further, the PMOS said that the ins and outs of this issue had been gone over at the time after the tragic deaths in Morecambe Bay, it was important to recognise that David Blunkett had not accused anyone of contributing to the 21 deaths. It was right that departments aired difficulties they had with proposed legislation.

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