IT makes no difference at all how many shake-ups are ordered, grave announcements made or the number of ministerial jobs hitting the shredder. Her Majesty's Home Office is now an inept, festering heap of corruption and endemic bumbledom.

It has overseen the release of hundreds of murderers, rapists and paedophiles on to British streets. It has furnished illegal immigrants with insurance numbers, ensuring that they can claim benefits to which they are not entitled.

This is also the lumbering juggernaut of an organisation that refused to order the deportation of Abu `Dr Hook' Hamza, the international terrorist who helped foment the hatred that sparked last July's London bomb outrages.

No one, it seems, stays very long as its boss. David Blunkett walked, as did the insufferably smug porcine Charles Clark. Despite his bullyboy bluster, I suspect that John Reid will not be long in the job, too.

However, there is one area of public life at which the Home Office excels. Since its inception a few years ago, this is one task the armies of penpushers have performed with faultless fervour. So well, in fact, that millions of pounds have swelled the coffers of the Exchequer.

It's probably been the biggest earner since Francis Drake robbed the Spanish treasure fleets four centuries ago. So shall I tell you what it is? Well, it's speed cameras. Yes, that's right - those electronic boxes that have caused so much misery to motorists up and down the land.

So, child molesters walk free while drivers and their families feel the full force of the law. It's good to know we've got our priorities right, isn't it?