Pumping yet more money without reform into failing organisations is likely to continue to disappoint.
“It’s time to roll up our sleeves. Take on the declinists. And watch the British economy prove the doubters wrong.”
At the moment the Government takes the blame as the ultimate boss, whilst lacking many of the powers to put things right owing to the doctrine of independence.
His measured communications approach is superior to Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’s tendency towards needless provocation without any commitment to structural reform. But that reform must happen, regardless of how unpopular it may be.
A modest (if growing) list of technocratic interventions will not be enough for the electorate, no matter how good they are in their own terms.
We could just abandon some of our costlier spending commitments — for instance, the triple lock, or having a navy. But I’m assuming that when Tories talk about shrinking the state they have weight-loss in mind not amputation.
At present, we are languishing in the polls. However, if we keep their reputation for being good on the economy, then the public may decide to give us another chance.
The Government should learn from how Johnson got the trains to run on time when he was Mayor of London.
When numerous existing schemes are ill-publicised or difficult to sign up for, vulnerable people miss out on much-needed help.
If the government is providing the money for public services, it needs more control over how that money is spent.
Whatever the leadership of our party, the task facing it is the same: building a strong country that delivers a better life.
The cat of Tory tax rises has fewer than nine lives. Especially if these breach manifesto pledges and are generationally unfair.
The NHS employs 1.75 million people and is too monolithic. The number of civil servants has risen to 460,000. This is territory which the Chancellor needs to examine in detail.
It may be necessary, given the Coronavirus, and could even work. But Britain has a long, long record of state spending failing to turbo-charge growth.
You’d have thought it in jest if you’d been told that for £50 per citizen, a “Taskforce” drawn from the private sector would operate with a degree of independence from Whitehall, take risks and secure 357 million vaccine doses in nine months – all under-budget.