"Not Fit To Hold Office"

I struggle to feel too much sympathy for Sharon Shoesmith, despite her whining:

The former children’s services chief was left haunted by thoughts of suicide after losing her job over the Baby P tragedy.

Sharon Shoesmith is suffering post-traumatic stress, faces financial ruin and will never work again, the High Court in London was told today.

Note that she has felt suicidal over losing her job rather than the horrifying details of the Baby P tragedy.

Yep, she lost her job owing to the failings of others and because it was politically expedient for a head to roll. Yet she was in charge of the system that repeatedly intervened in the life of Baby P yet still failed to make any real difference. If the social services failed to make a difference in the life of that poor toddler, then it does rather beg the question of what the point of them actually is. Besides, responsibility means that you sometimes have to take the punishment for something you did not directly do yourself, but you had control over. The buck has to stop somewhere, and on this occasion, it stopped with Shoesmith.

Still, when I read a comment like this I can't help but raise my eyebrows:

Mr Balls had said in press conferences on several occasions that he judged Ms Shoesmith “not to be fit to hold office”.

Ed Balls claiming someone isn't fit to hold office? The most poisonous man in British Politics and close personal friend to the worst Prime Minister since Anthony Eden claiming someone isn't fit to hold office? Jesus, Shoesmith's case doesn't stand a chance. After all, if anyone should know - from personal experience - when someone isn't fit to hold office, it is Ed Balls...