Monthly Archives: May 2008

I have commented before on the lamentable failure of parts of our public services to keep pace with demand, to recognise the big improvements in customer service elsewhere, and to tackle the high error rates they currently experience. I have been visiting some factories recently and seeing just how far the private sector is getting [...]

The figures this week show just how the squeeze on people’s incomes is intensifying. As readers of this blog will know. wages remain under strict control. Real wages (Wage increases after allowing for the increase in the Retail price Index) are now falling by 1% a year – they usually go up by around 2.5% [...]

All this week, Parliament is once again in recess. It may suit the Prime Minister. It gives him a fire-break from all those frantic conversations between MPs about his suitability to remain as Prime Minister, and all those plots about how to get the PM to change his agenda and to understand the mood of [...]

Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling met the oil industry yesterday to see what they could do to boost production of oil. They reasoned that if they could help the industry pump more, the price would fall and alleviate some of the pressure. I have no objection to such discussions, but wonder why they have left [...]

Yesterday government Ministers queued up to appear on TV and radio programmes to tell us they are “listening”. We were told to await the Autumn Statement patiently to see if their listening extended to understanding why people are against the big hike in Vehicle Excise Duty which they defended in the Commons recently when the [...]

There was a good response to my item asking what you thought MPs should be paid, and how many things they should be able to claim in expenses. The range of views was much wider than I expected, and not everyone thought MPs were overpaid. Today there are rumours that the Committee charged with coming [...]

The haulage industry is suffering badly from this government’s crippling taxes on motor vehicles and fuel. It does not drive lorries off the roads. Instead it gives a huge competitive advantage to foreign lorries to come over the Channel and grab the business. This government has done practically nothing to increase rail capacity, offsetting the [...]

There are two big reasons why no UK government will introduce personal carbon accounts. The first is the cost and complexity of setting them up. The second is the impossibility of doing them in a single country on a fair basis. The initial response to the idea has concentrated on the enormous amount of computing [...]

David Miliband should put an end to speculation that he is going to replace Gordon Brown. He can do so easily if he wishes. Instead of saying stories about his running for the Leadership are works of “fiction”, he should categorically rule out seeking the Prime Ministership or allowing his name to go forward. He [...]

Yesterday the press hit a new low for the Prime Minister. The papers plastered a photo of him visiting a hospital, with the sign for the Fire Exit prominently displayed above his head. Apparently, in the mad world of the media, this is a gaffe. We are into that phase that I remember well from [...]