The Tories have created a Minister for Common Sense who wouldn't know a gate from a barn door

THE important thing about common sense is that it isn't half as common as people think.

- PAUL ROUTLEDGE

And it certainly has no place in a clapped-out Tory government that has plainly taken leave of its senses.

That's why it's so laughable they've created a Minister for Common Sense who wouldn't know a gate from a barn door.

Esther McVey has got everything wrong in every job she's had, including a report on Universal Credit when she was Work and Pensions Secretary.

"The Mouth of the Mersey", as some call her, said the scheme should be rolled out faster the direct opposite of what MPs had recommended.

Her incompetence is typical of Tory ministers, whose folly has made life worse for millions.

This is a government guilty of nonsense, not common sense.

They came to office bleating about opportunities for young people and promptly shut down the Sure Start centres.

They promised better education and sacked thousands of teachers and classroom assistants. If that's common sense, I'm glad they haven't put it in the curriculum. They pledged to cut crime, then culled tens of thousands of police.

Where's the sense in that? Where Labour had neglected the housing crisis, they said they would succeed, building 300,000 homes a year. They failed, and homelessness is rising back to my record levels.