Not for the first time, I have been scattering observations on an issue, in comments dotted around the place, rather than pulling the strands together for a piece on here. This time, the topic is the rising cost of the quangocracy. As a…

Are they by any chance related? (Picture of Ted from US DoD via Wikipedia, and of Dave from today's FT. Or is that the other way round?)

How do you fancy an outdoor adventure with Philosophy?  How about some fashion buying?  Some Aromatherapy and Therapeutic Bodywork?  A bit of lifestyle management?  Not got a clue what I'm on about?  Believe it or not you can do all these…

Government Family doctors have been warned that unless they agree to open at evenings and on Saturdays, private companies will be contracted to take over their practices. A letter sent to local NHS organisations has ordered them to improve…

The government has announced that HIPs will now apply to all three bedroom houses earlier than expected - September 10th.  This has meant that anyone who thought they had bit of time before any October deadline has, once again, been shafted…

Can we finally stop pretending that cap-and-trade and our other half-baked "carbon-pricing" mechanisms aren't simply offshoring our carbon? Global coal production has increased by one-third in 3 years (and by over 50% since the turn of the…

George Osborne has welcomed the report of John Redwood's Economic Competitiveness Policy Group, which identifies £14 billion that could be saved by cutting red tape and bureaucracy and recommends tax cuts of £10 billion, as "the most…

Tim Worstall has challenged, in a recent post, the logic of the DfT's suggestion that Air Passenger Duty (APD) needs to be increased further to take full account of the contribution of aviation to carbon-emissions. By Tim's calculations…

So John Redwood has spelt out the future of the economy with a raft of tax cuts. So John Redwood has spelt out the future of the economy by promising that a Tory government will ensure the stability of the economy before committing to any…

Government Rail regulators were last night threatening to put the brakes on huge fare rises. Amid public anger over fare increases up to 30 per cent on some routes, the Office of Rail Regulation has agreed to define what increases should be…

Government   The government has said it will extend its Home Information Pack scheme (Hips) to cover three-bedroom homes in England and Wales from 10 September 2007. Hips are intended to speed up house sales, but critics say it makes the…

Here is Cameroonian Conservatism in action. If people are inclined to avoid paying for goods, get taxpayers to pay for them, so they appear to be "free" at the point of consumption, in order to reduce the temptation to commit unlawful acts…