ONE of the reasons that the country is in such a state is the constant shuffling and moving of ministers from one department to another.

These ministers have no specific qualifications for the departments they are given and have no reference either.

They are not vetted in any way and do not have to compete with other job applicants; they are simply given the job that the Prime Minister of the day decides to give them.

Having got the job, they do their best to make a name for themselves in as short a time as possible in order to get noticed by the PM and to increase their chances of promotion.

In order to get publicity they announce radical reforms and cutbacks.

This usually means penalising the weakest members of society, the unemployed, the sick and disabled, single mothers etc.

After a short period of time, just a few months, they are moved to some other department that they have no qualifications to run.

Take the Department of Work and Pensions.

Last year John Hatton ran it.

He made a name for himself by attacking claimants rights and benefits. Then James Purnell ran it and he did the same.

Now someone else is running it, a woman I believe, whose name escapes me.

What are her qualifications?

What will she do to claimants in order to get noticed and to get her face on the TV?

C COBB, Diana Way, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne