04.11.14
Baker quits as Home Office minister, blaming Theresa May
Home Office minister Norman Baker has quit over policy, blaming his boss Theresa May’s attitude and his department’s lack of regard for evidence-based policy.
Baker, Lib Dem MP for Lewes, had three-and-a-half years at the Department for Transport where he said the atmosphere was much more “collegiate” than at the Home Office, where he was moved in the September 2013 reshuffle.
Under May as home secretary, however, he said trying to get anything done was like “walking through mud” and that she saw it as a Conservative department, not a Coalition one.
The latest clash came over drugs policy, where a report into the effect of harsher sentences abroad on drug use was buried for months.
Baker said: “I think [May] is quite competent and professional, and I have a lot of respect for her professionally. I just think it’s a pity that she took the mindset that the Lib Dems had to be put up with, and we were almost a cuckoo in the nest rather than part of government.”
In his response to Baker’s resignation letter, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said: “In both posts you have proved yourself as one of the most effective ministers in government: always determined to deliver a more liberal agenda for Britain, by consensus where possible but by confronting vested interests whenever necessary.
“However complex the issues have been, or challenging the Coalition relations have proved to be, you have handled the political relationships within government with great skill, always focussing on how to achieve liberal reform wherever you can.”
Tory sources have suggested Baker told the Independent newspaper about his resignation before he told Downing Street.
The Liberal Democrats will announce Baker’s replacement “in due course”.
(Photo credit: Liberal Democrats / Dave Radcliffe)
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]