Has Chris Grayling put his foot in it?

The new Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling, he of the interesting expense claims, gave a speech today in which he said,

Labour has had eleven years and they have collectively failed – their musical chairs based system of home secretaries has left Britain a more dangerous, less civilised place to live in.

Now that’s odd. Not only because, as Hopi Sen points out, “Chris Grayling is the third Shadow Home Secretary in the last year” but also because on my calculation, the average term of office of a Labour Home Secretary since 1997 (excluding Jacqui Smith, as she is still in post) has been slightly higher than the average term of office of Conservative Home Secretaries 1979-1997. Ooops.