A week is a long time in politics and Charles Clarke has been in post for some time as Home Secretary after the unplanned departure of David Blunkett. Blunkett had seen through radical police reforms but his departure was not because of serious issues like policy. Clarke has continued to pursue the police reform agenda and this article covers the direction of Labour government policy in its second term and specifically key legal developments in David Blunkett's final year as Home Secretary. These include the outcome of his dispute with Humberside Police Authority over its refusal to comply with the suspension of its Chief Constable. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has started work in this time and its early impact is reviewed. There have also been significant reports into: policing in London (the Morris Inquiry); policing and police complaints by the Commission for Racial Equality; and Police Disciplinary Arrangements for the Home Office. The article considers the general problem of litigiousness regarding police complaints and also highlights issues of accountability relating to national police work and European cooperation in light of the creation of the Serious Organised Crime Agency.