Political Focus, with Bill Jacobs

HOME Secretary Jack Straw has been involved in a furious turf war with the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine. The Head of the Judiciary has made clear that he wishes to take control of the criminal justice system. The Blackburn MP has made equally clear that he does not intend to hand them over.

Indeed, in view of all his pledges to be tough on law and order and speed up justice - especially for the young - to lose control of such a large part of his brief would be a massive slap in the face and political neutering.

Mr Straw certainly does not want the unelected Lord Irvine to take the credit for any improvements, and he certainly does not want this creature of the legal system to wreck his proposals.

But there is a clear personal edge to the animosity.

The correspondence between the two is said in Whitehall to be "sulphurous."

Even before the election, Mr Straw is reputed to have had the opinion that Lord Irvine was "not a nice man."

As it became clear that they would have to work closely together in the near-certain event of a Labour victory, a clear-the-air lunch was arranged.

In view of what has happened since, it is obvious the lunch did not go well.

As his comments that he would be Lord Wolsey to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Henry VIII made clear, the Lord Chancellor's modesty is not his greatest asset.

Indeed, many insiders at Whitehall detect a contempt for the career politician born on an Essex council estate who spent six months as a barrister doing minor cases on the part of one of the greatest legal minds of his generation. There is no doubt that Lord Irvine - holder of three law degrees, top legal earner and head of one of the most prestigious London barristers' chambers since 1981 - is at the top of his profession intellectually as well as technically.

And his close friendship with Mr Blair - who served in his chambers and met his wife Cherie there - has led him to believe that he is also on top of the job as a politician.

But his gaffes over £650,000 of refurbishment at his official residence in the Palace of Westminster, his Cardinal Wolsey comment and his claim that the incorporation of the European Convention of Human Rights into English law would create a privacy law by the back door have indicated that he is wrong in this.

The fact that some of the new decorations and furnishings were ordered after the original row over the costs broke illustrates his lack of political nous.

One senior New Labour figure was particularly shocked by spending £16,000 on two beds, commenting: "I am a definite Blairite, but I find the idea of spending £8,000 of taxpayers' money on a bed shocking."

And so, clearly, do several of Lord Irvine's Cabinet colleagues, as yesterday's story about Chancellor Gordon Brown refusing to buy a new carpet for Number 11 Downing Street's State Room illustrates.

But the only man to actually stand up to Mr Blair's chum and mentor is Jack Straw.

He took him on over the privacy law and won hands down.

He took him on over declaring membership of the Freemasons and had a fierce battle as the Lord Chancellor tried to exempt all judges from the requirement.

The resulting compromise of mandatory declaration for new Judges and voluntary declaration for existing ones is seen by insiders as a "score draw."

But in view of the fact that those who fail to declare will have that fact recorded on a public register - clearly hinting that they are Masons - means that Mr Straw may even have come out ahead. To take on Derry, as Mr Blair calls his pal the Lord Chancellor, was a major political risk - but as he has won or drawn every clash, it has paid off.

The fact that as personally powerful a Premier as Mr Blair should back Mr Straw against his long-standing friend is an indication of how highly he rates his Home Secretary.

Mr Straw has proved himself as a highly capable administrator and astute political operator - slightly to the surprise of many at Westminster.

Following the falling of the standing of Chancellor Gordon Brown over his "authorised biography" and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook over his private life, Mr Straw is definitely the rising star of the Cabinet. Insiders doubt that Mr Blair will ditch his chum in this summer's Cabinet reshuffle but have little doubt that his Empire Building days are over.

They have no doubt that his idea of a Justice Ministry with his department is now dead in the water, and that Mr Straw will keep control of the Criminal Justice system - another victory over Lord Irvine that underlines his current elevated Cabinet status and personal standing with the Prime Minister.

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