David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, PCis best known as a British politician and more recently as an academic, having represented the Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough constituency for 28 years through to 7 May 2015 when he stepped down at the general election. Blind since birth, and coming from a poor family in one of Sheffield's most deprived districts, he rose to become Education and Employment Secretary, Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary in Tony Blair's Cabinet following Labour's victory in...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth6 June 1947
If I pleaded guilty to a mistake while I was home secretary, it wasn't that I didn't get tough - my God, I put immigration and security officials on French soil for the first time.
We need dynamic and thriving businesses and a skilled and adaptable labour force to produce competitiveness and prosperity.
The democratic state can sometimes abuse its power as much as those who seek to destroy it abuse fundamental rights and democratic practices.
It's not just parliament that requires radical modernisation. It's our democratic processes.
It's to do with people who are prepared to resort to violence and self-destruction in a way which can take us absolutely nowhere,
Throughout my political life, I've not been a stranger to controversy.
We didn't consider closing Heathrow Airport because those who are threatening us would have been the victors,
What I am clear about is that I have made a mistake, ... I thought there was going to be increasing damage done to the government by me.
In primary schools, I set two main objectives - to cut infant class sizes and improve literacy and numeracy.
I have taken this step not only to avoid continuing misinterpretation of the position, but also to protect family and friends from further intrusion and hope that will be respected.
Being a Labour home secretary in the 21st century means fighting a constant battle against both extreme Right and Left.
Being home secretary involves having to face some of the worst of human behaviour and challenges of modern society.
I prefer a positive view of freedom, drawing on another tradition of political thinking that goes all the way back to the ancient Greek polis.
In the U.K., we have always been an open, trading nation, enriched by our global links. Contemporary patterns of migration extend this tradition.