tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3083855923964640893.post686540595252455475..comments2023-11-05T10:53:07.638+00:00Comments on Patently Rubbish: No Way to Run a Governmentpatentlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00602962323262055007noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3083855923964640893.post-48890078538156568152008-08-27T21:33:00.000+01:002008-08-27T21:33:00.000+01:00Any business person will tell you that the importa...Any business person will tell you that the important thing is to make a decision.It often matters a lot less what the decision is, than that it is made.<BR/>You can always alter it a bit later, but if you never decide then as you pointed out, a period of waiting, where nothing productive at all is done, commences.<BR/><BR/>NuBrownLabour are particularly susceptible to U-Turn accusations after NR and 10p tax, stabbers to hospitals etc, and so feel the need to be 100% convinced of the polls before making an announcement.<BR/><BR/>In practice, as hands are sat on, stuff just leaks out. The government, terrified it may not be focus group friendly or revenue raising or revenue neutral, has to deny anything is going on, even when the evidence is there to see, just in case a 180 is needed.<BR/><BR/>Exactly as you point out, with no long term plans, and having survived for years on 'headlines' and 'spin' and reheating old news, every new policy appears to come straight from the pads of a brainstorming session.<BR/><BR/>And it shows.Bill Quango MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861116614665461655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3083855923964640893.post-76246679921483785672008-08-27T09:49:00.000+01:002008-08-27T09:49:00.000+01:00It is the "testing the water" aspect - whereby dif...It is the "testing the water" aspect - whereby different proposals are leaked to the press to gauge their reaction first - which irritates me the most. As you say, if they had a clear set of values or ambitions they would tailor their policies using that as a starting point. They have not done this at all since 1997.<BR/><BR/>The economy has been puffed up each time there has been a sniff of a slowdown meaning that now the final reckoning is upon us there is nowhere to turn.Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.com