Schools falling apart because of red tape
Gordon Brown promised in successive budget speeches to rebuild or refurbish all 3,500 secondary schools before 2020 to spend £3bn a year on rebuilding or refurbishing to complete 100 schools by this year and 200 the next to sign 10…
How sound is our money?
Wat Tyler posted an entry on his excellent Burning Our Money blog, pointing out that yesterday's interest-rate hike was a positive sign that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee were deciding to get back on top of inflation, not a…
Paperwork over patient care
It is reported today that Government reforms have led to patients being put at unnecessary risk by an over load of paperwork required by their carers. The British Medical Journal describes hospital wards as having "appalling conditions" and…
"Doing nothing is not an option"
"Doing nothing is not an option." So says the Government's spokesman, as an explanation for why they will press ahead with road pricing against strong public antipathy. The culture of doing something because "something must be done" is what…
Blue plaques for trees
The Tree Council is calling for historic trees to be awarded "blue plaques" like historic buildings, concerned that "historic trees are left to wither and die". Are blue plaques (or something equivalent) supposed to stop trees from…
Improved schools = worse basic skills....?
Today's papers report that many schools are now achieving the government's target of five good GCSE's but the figures are much lower when maths and English are taken into account. Some schoolmasters encourage pupils to take easier subjects…
Carbon offsetting
Tony Blair has promised to offset emissions from his holiday flights after opposition parties and green groups questioned his leadership on climate change. But offsetting emissions is not a solution to the problem. It is a great idea to pay…
Chavez: I am the state
The re-elected Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, yesterday announced his plans to nationalise the main telecoms company and the likely nationalisation of a power company. The announcement is part of President Chavez's pledge "to radicalise…
State-funded Nazis
This is what happens when you fund political parties using taxpayers' money: The excellent Open Europe think-tank reports in its Daily Press Summary that the British National Party (BNP) are to receive a share of the £130,000 of funding…
MoD housing
The BBC reported last week of the poor state of military housing. A number of pictures of homes and barracks with mildew, broken pipes and cracked walls have appreared in the news and it is reported that servicemen are leaving the army due…
From red tape to black tape (the Telegraph)
According to the the Telegraph, HMRC has spent £7m on telling staff how to tidy their desks. This is part of a programme called Lean, introduced by consultants Unipart to improve the performance of civil servants more used to dealing with…