Government has made mistakes but is learning from them, says Wes Streeting
HEALTH Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted that the government has made “a few” mistakes but insisted that ministers are learning from them.
He also said he would be surprised if West Midland Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford was still in post by the end of today.
Streeting told GB News: “Look, the Prime Minister has got an extremely difficult job, because he’s got not just the challenges of the NHS to worry about. He’s got to worry about every part of Government and public services, which were not just on their knees, but on their face when we came in.
“He’s got to worry about the economy, and not just the health of the public finances, but the nation’s finances, families, businesses, and he’s got to try and drive improvement in this country against the backdrop of what has been even by historic standards, an extremely volatile, dangerous and changing backdrop.
“But you know, this is a guy who goes abroad delivers for this country abroad, not just in terms of foreign policy, but the actions he takes and the leadership he shows abroad, delivering here at home. Ask the workers at Jaguar Land Rover, or the ship builders on the Clyde or in Barrow.
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“The things that he’s negotiated abroad have delivered jobs and security for us here at home. And the Prime Minister, if he was stood here, would say very much the same thing.
“This government has achieved big things in its first 18 months, but there is a lot more to do, and yes, mistakes, we’ve made a few. I dare say we’ll make mistakes in the future too. The important thing is that when we make them, we learn from them.
“That when people point out that we’ve got something wrong, that if we think they’re making the right argument and they’ve got it right, well then we need to put it right. I’d much rather see that approach than the sort of, sometimes the stubborn refusal to admit, to hold your hands up and say, ‘Do you know what? Actually, I got that wrong. I’m going to change course’. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
“The worst thing would be if we made mistakes people pointed out, and we thought, well, we can’t change that now, we’ll want to spare our political blushes instead of doing the right thing.”
On the controversy surrounding West Midland Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, Streeting said: “In the case of the Police and Crime Commissioner, he’s got a process that he needs to follow, to be honest.
“I think the thing that has shocked me over and above everything else is that having been found out misleading Parliament, misleading the country, and having had the Home Secretary, his boss, and one of his local MPs say she has lost confidence in him, I don’t know why he has not had the integrity or the shame to resign.
“I find that extraordinary, actually, and I don’t think anyone would have expected it. I genuinely thought when the Home Secretary stood up and laid out all the facts as many brilliant journalists have exposed, I genuinely thought that she would also be announcing that she had received his resignation, or the Police and Crime Commissioner had received his resignation, because I’ll tell you what, if I’d been in that position, I suspect many of your viewers have been in that position, that’s what any of us would have done.
“I don’t expect people in public office or in public service to be infallible. I don’t expect them to be perfect. I do expect them to be honest, and I do expect them to uphold high standards, and I do expect them, when they’ve fallen so woefully short, to do the right thing and resign.
“I’m shocked he is still in post today. I would be surprised if he’s still in post by the end of the day.”
