Why does government cost so much?

The costs of running government have escalated whilst the crucial outputs of more and better service have  not risen as we would like. I will look at why in a number of  articles.

One of the reasons is the escalation of the overhead, with more and more management and administration being recruited. Two trends this century that have spurred this process are the moves to so called independent bodies to carry out what remain as government functions, and the overlay of an increasing  number of additional objectives to meeting service needs from net zero targets through diversity targets to behavioural requirements.  These may be desirable in themselves but can become a conflicting overload or impediment to service delivery if not well managed. Carbon reduction targets for example can conflict with the policy need to maintain national energy security and to have more contract gas and electricity at affordable prices from reliable domestic suppliers.  Wanting more legal migrants to fill jobs with a more diverse workforce can lead to greater pressures on social housing and NHS services as the population grows.

The danger of the new models of government are that you can end up with three different managements all running the same bit of service. If we take the  case of NHS England, the Ministers and officials in the Department of Health have a large paybill as if they were running the service, yet they are merely monitoring and supplying resource to the large management cadres of NHS England and the other  national Health quangos. These in turn seek to influence or control the management teams of the NHS Hospital and GP trusts that actually run the service day to day. So there are three public sector layers of senior management. The NHS then contracts in a lot of its needs from the private sector, so taxpayers also end up paying for the management of drug companies, staffing agencies, private care   and pharmacies who provide some of the service.

I have  no issue with sensible buying in and contracting out for drugs, catering services, cleaning and other matters that are well established under Labour and Conservative governments and where the result is better quality and value. I do have an issue with three or four layers of management within the public sector and the contractors, increasing the costs of dealing with each other and increasing the likelihood of blurred accountability.

The idea that a quango like NHS England is an independent body free of Ministerial involvement is not even accepted by its advocates. As soon as anything goes wrong the Minister is called in and is usually blamed. The Minister is rightly held to account in Parliament for the scale of resource , the aims of the service and the success or failure in using the resource well. Rarely does Parliament summon the CEO of the quango and hold her to blame for failure to use resources well, failure to manage staff well or failure to deliver sufficient quality and quantity of care. It is so much easier for all concerned to blame the Minister and blame a lack of money, which of course suits the Opposition in Parliament . As a result we do not get the alleged advantages of independent management, but we do get plenty of extra cost from pretending some of the time that we have this independence  and  that it is better than the people in the department doing the job.

163 Comments

  1. Danny Hargreaves
    December 4, 2022

    When the Minister is held to account why doesn’t he tell the truth and blame the CEO for mismanagement? How can this system be changed to an effective one?

    1. Mark B
      December 4, 2022

      No one likes to see someone through a hapless Civil Servant under a bus, so to speak. But I agree and we need a culture change.

      I have said here before that a Minister should only be responsible for two things. The implementation of manifesto pledges and to protect the public purse. Not to defend a failed department.

      1. Original Richard
        December 4, 2022

        Mark B : “No one likes to see someone through (sic) a hapless Civil Servant under a bus, so to speak.”

        I disagree.

        Civil Servants, quango or state employees should be sacked for laziness, negligence, incompetence, malfeasance, corruption, misbehaviour, insubordination or treachery.

        But they never are.

        The reason is because our Parliament uses these transgressions as excuses for the reason they are not implementing their manifesto promises.

        For instance, simply by declaring the Home Office is “not fit for purpose”, gives them an excuse to not implement their manifesto promises to reduce immigration.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 4, 2022

          Yes. The Minister’s responsibility is to make it fit for purpose and if they are not up to the job, stand aside! If Departments fails it is due to the incapability of the Minister!

        2. Hope
          December 4, 2022

          JR,
          How much did it cost the taxpayer for MPs to listen to corrupt Ukraine’s president wife last week? Seriously, how much and of what use to our country? All on £83,000 plus cost of offices and expenses, ministers even more. Take the number of those present and how long they wastefully sat there doing nothing and achieved nothing. Nothing! This answers your question JR. You and other MPs might like to think about this before discussing productivity!

          Just imagine all the businesses in the country telling all their work forces we are going to listen to the wife of the president of the Ukraine for a few hours this afternoon! Just to kill a few hours! Not as though parliament has anything else to do! Cut the bloody numbers, if not there in the jungle! Or on holiday. Or Johnson visiting Rupert Murdoch in Montana!

          Reply I did not attend that event as I had constituency issues to follow up

    2. dixie
      December 4, 2022

      Root Cause Analysis

    3. Nottingham Lad Himself
      December 4, 2022

      Maybe they’re scared of what “the leftie BBC might report”?

      That’s that leftie organisation whose chairman is Richard Sharp, who has recently criticised Emily Maitliss again. Richard Simon Sharp, (born 8 February 1956) has been the Chairman of the BBC since February 2021. A former banker, he worked at JP Morgan for eight years, and then for 23 years at Goldman Sachs. Sharp was an advisor to Boris Johnson during his tenure as London Mayor, and to Rishi Sunak as Chancellor. Etc ed

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        December 4, 2022

        For those curious as to what Sir John edited out I’d look at this guy’s wiki page 😉

        1. Roy Grainger
          December 4, 2022

          For how some Labour supporters have to use lies to further their cause I’d look at this claim that this post was edited.

          The Unite union pays ÂŁ1m a year to Labour.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            December 4, 2022

            But its General Secretary does not have any control over the news that the nation hears.

            Your claim can be disproved by going to that wiki page too.

      2. Mickey Taking
        December 4, 2022

        I’ve thought the BBC had its share of bankers for years.

      3. Hat man
        December 4, 2022

        So we have a globalist banker of 31 years standing working as chairman of the BBC. Many thanks for this useful piece of info, lad. It explains a lot.
        I see the BBC chairman is ‘responsible for maintaining the independence of the BBC and overseeing the functioning of the BBC to fulfil its mission’ (Wikipedia).
        I wonder who gave him the job. Oh yes, the monarch, advised by the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport. So, a government appointee to oversee what the state broadcaster does. Safe pair of hands there, then.

      4. Peter2
        December 5, 2022

        One out of thousands.

  2. Christine
    December 4, 2022

    “meeting service needs from net zero targets through diversity targets”

    “Wanting more legal migrants to fill jobs with a more diverse workforce”

    At the end of the day it comes down to choices of what to spend taxpayers money on. I’m sure if you asked the general public if they would like a diversity manager but will have to wait 12 hours for an ambulance they wouldn’t select the diversity manager.

    These targets are not what people want. We want a properly functioning NHS concentrating on the delivery of health benefits, cheap and reliable energy, an education system that develops childrens’ knowledge and minds, a police service that tackles crime, housing that puts British citizens first, less immigration.

    Your party has lost sight of the fact that you serve the people and you will pay dearly at the next general election. What a waste of an 80+ seat majority, you could have done such great things.

    1. Cuibono
      December 4, 2022

      +many
      Totally agree.
      Trouble is 
the 80 seat majority was based on lies.
      Had they actually done what was promised they’d be looking at power forever.
      But no! The commie agenda is more important.
      I bet their only obsession at the minute is that Online “Harms” Bill.

      1. Hope
        December 4, 2022

        The army now has officers dedicated to LBGT issues!! Good grief. What has the socialist Tories done!

        1. Cuibono
          December 4, 2022

          They’ve used communistic tactics to divide and conquer us.

    2. HFClark
      December 4, 2022

      +1

    3. Bloke
      December 4, 2022

      Christine:
      Your points are well expressed and many agree. The crazy Govt ignores at its risk.

    4. Fedupsoutherner
      December 4, 2022

      Lovely post Christine. Spot on.

  3. Javelin
    December 4, 2022

    Cut backed based on the most senior managers delivering the same front line services.

    So simply say. Your budget is being cut by 20% but you must not cut front line services. Managers must be fired and the remaining managers will need to reorganise. You have one month to give HR a list of organisations, functions and people who will be made redundant and to give a list of new reporting lines. If you cannot cut by 20% you will be made redundant and I will find somebody in you team to take over and complete the work.

    1. Dave Andrews
      December 4, 2022

      Implementing what you say still needs a degree of management competence, not a degree in political theory.

  4. turboterrier
    December 4, 2022

    This is what happens when you get the wrong people with their own ideas how they see things getting control of support facilities in big organisations.
    It was only yesterday that I was told about my local NHS Trust encouraging retired people back to work for them.
    Went on line and nearly every position being advertised was support roles or managers for non medical departments. It is not just quangos who need draining from the swamp.

    1. Peter Wood
      December 4, 2022

      Jav.
      Your point is correct I agree. However, the good ol’ CS knows this tune, and all that happens is Joe Bloggs gets redundanced, then re-hired as a consultant on contract the next day, directly or indirectly, at at least the same cost. So he gets a redundance package and a new income. Happy Days!

      I would ask Sir J to stand up in the HoC and ask the Government to tell us which of the manifesto promises Government think have been fulfilled, and which are going to be completed by 2024, so that he can go to his constituents and tell them which promises have been kept.

      1. Fedupsoutherner
        December 4, 2022

        Re your first paragraph Peter. This is what happens in local councils too.

  5. Mark B
    December 4, 2022

    Good morning.

    Why does the State cost so much ? Because it is the State and has no competitor. It alone can tax, borrow and print money with near impunity. It alone can create laws and command vast powers.

    As had been said – Power corrupts and, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 4, 2022

      Why does government cost so much and deliver so little of value? Because they can get away with it. Only the politicians have any interest in delivering any value to the public so as to win elections, but they totally fail to even try to do this. Instead they fight bogus religious wars like net zero, waste billions on worthless degrees, build HS2, run an appalling health care systems and piss money away all over the place like HS2, the lock downs, open door immigration, the net harm vaccines even for the young. Incompetence, vested interests or corruption take your pick – a mix of all three in reality.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 4, 2022

        Basically the engineers, medics, scientist and others have made huge advances in manufacturing efficiency, medical treatments, agriculture… but the politicians have largely trashed these huge gains through over regulation, restrictive planning, the net zero religion and vast government tax, borrow, print and piss down the drain policies. They have stolen the cream earned by others and left the watery whey or gruel at best for others.

        As an example “In 1800, it took over five hour’s work to generate one hour of light. Today, an hour of light costs 0.00027 hours, or about one second’s, work.” About a time 20,000 gain in efficiency. In computing and transistors the gains are even more.

        See the excellent Matt Ridley on this topic.

        1. Mickey Taking
          December 4, 2022

          all those gains took away the opportunity for profit, unless you had a desired consumer invention – mass produced. Higher prices means profit plus ability to tax…

    2. Lifelogic
      December 4, 2022

      The Arctic’s ice coverage has actually grow over the last 10 years. Modern ice extent is “among the largest of the last 10,000 years”. The largest GIC extent of the Holocene has been seen in the last millennium. This is said to suggest that any reduction in GICs in the last few centuries “is but a partial return to a former period of much greater warmth”. See full reports on the Daily Sceptic sight and weekly Sceptic Podcasts. Still why let facts get in the way of this CO2 religion?

      1. Lifelogic
        December 4, 2022

        I once heard Emily Thornberry (a daft second rate law graduate) on a discussion programme on energy say that as the wind did not always blow we should use reliable wave power as the waves are reliable. Rather showing that she did not know what causes waves (no wind no waves for long). The rest of the politicians and the Chair did not point out just how moronic she was being. Perhaps she would stick to tweeting her total contempt for patriotic white van men. To be fair all the other politicians were being moronic too as art graduates so often are on these topics.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 4, 2022

          It’s not waves that would turn the turbines but the tide, which is not dependent on wind.

          1. Lifelogic
            December 4, 2022

            She said wave power not tidal power! Tidal power is extremely expensive and not even on demand energy.

          2. Lifelogic
            December 4, 2022

            Lynn wave power is wave power and tidal power is tidal power they are very different. Waves are driven by wind which is driven from the radiated fusion energy from the sun. Tidal is driven by the earth rotation and gravitational forces from the sun and moon etc. I do know this and have done since about age 10. Neither are actually “renewable” as tidal slows the earths rotation and the sun will eventually die out. But both are rather long lasting.

        2. Mickey Taking
          December 4, 2022

          you don’t think moon tidal power worth exploiting then?

          1. Fedupsoutherner
            December 4, 2022

            The Scottish government funded two wave power projects and both failed after investing millions.

          2. Lynn Atkinson
            December 4, 2022

            Yes of course I do. When Parkinson looked at the Severn barrage, energy was priced in a different league. It would be financially viable now, especially with turbines that turned both ways – as the tide came in and went out. Nothing to do with ‘waves’.

          3. Lifelogic
            December 4, 2022

            Well it is very expensive indeed, the enclosed areas silt up and are expensive to maintain, the power is very variable with spring and neap tides and is not on demand. Plus you have to use it up before the next tide or it is wasted. So not the best option v. environmentally damaging too.

          4. glen cullen
            December 6, 2022

            Only if you believe the world is going to end due to climate change

      2. Christine
        December 4, 2022

        Once the On-Line Safety bill becomes law the only facts you will be able to see will be the facts the government allows you to see. We are becoming more like a communist state every day.

        1. glen cullen
          December 4, 2022

          Agree

        2. Mickey Taking
          December 4, 2022

          but they don’t want compulsory voting until the electorate accept zero difference between the parties and candidates. However – we are getting there.

        3. Lynn Atkinson
          December 4, 2022

          We will find ways around that. They have lost control of the narrative and will never recover it.

        4. Lifelogic
          December 4, 2022

          +1

    3. Shirley M
      December 4, 2022

      Agreed, Mark B. This government especially is building it’s empire, with OUR money, and it intends to control every single aspect of our lives and they will not be pleasant lives. FGS I wish they would go and live with their equally childish and controlling pals in the EU. Both our politicians and the EU are determined to punish us for our democratic decision. Who knew a majority vote would bring out such evil intent among the very people paid to care for us and our country? Such childish spite! The future has nothing to offer with this government.

    4. Cuibono
      December 4, 2022

      +many
      Absolutely!
      And in order to do those things it can lie, propagandise, change and corrupt the law, shut the voters out of major decisions and steal from us!
      And this govt has always disgustingly twined on about FAIRNESS!
      Having said that
ultimately, we are the many


      1. R.Grange
        December 4, 2022

        Cuibono, yes, we are the many… spectators. Millions still watch state media. Not so many showed their faces when it came to opposing lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

        1. Cuibono
          December 4, 2022

          Agree..the lack of reaction is staggering!
          Dumb spectators watching as the govt. piles up our joint funeral pyre

      2. Lifelogic
        December 4, 2022

        +1

    5. Nottingham Lad Himself
      December 4, 2022

      What competitors are there to the water company where you live?

      People are rightly more worried about their food and energy bills anyway, and your brexit has seriously increased the former for us all.

      1. Clough
        December 4, 2022

        No, lad – it was joining the Common Market that put up food bills, to pay for the CAP. Maybe you’re too young to remember.

        Your story came from an LSE study of food prices in Britain 2020-2021. It found a 3% rise per year in food imports from the EU. What the study didn’t do was to show what food prices were like in the EU itself. They were rising sharply, for reasons nothing to do with Brexit:- ‘[In the EU] the prices of many commodities – crucially including food – have also been rising ever since COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were first introduced two years ago, straining global supply chains, leaving crops to rot, and causing panic-buying in supermarkets.’
        https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/11/30/record-inflation-which-country-in-europe-has-been-worst-hit-and-how-do-they-compare

        The LSE report is a classic in how to mislead people into blaming Brexit for things it didn’t cause. Our lad will fall for it every time.

        1. beresford
          December 4, 2022

          EU countries are now compulsorily purchasing farms and closing them in pursuit of nitrogen targets, whilst increasing food demand via mass immigration. Brexit should protect us from this lunacy but unfortunately our idiots will maintain that food we produce must be sold on ‘global markets’.

      2. a-tracy
        December 4, 2022

        NLH, people are rightly more worried about their rent and keeping a roof over their heads. But who can compete with housing associations who paid around £2000 per house they own from the council. They would have received enough in rent off every home to pay that cost off within six months and have been making a tidy ‘profit’ paid out to themselves and their pensions in the last ten years. They promised to spend millions more than they did and left homes in a very poor state full of mould we are told, yet they also got government top ups to improve insulation and the like. They were gifted, garages, shops, building land in that purchase 10 years ago, how many social low cost rental homes did they build on it, as the land costs are the biggest part in a lot of house building? You concentrate on the private ownership of big organisations, and I agree that they deserve more inspection, they did answer some of the Guardians accusations directly. I don’t like how much foreign ownership there is of the UKs essential services. But do you look into these social models too? After all they take by far the biggest % of the poor’s income (and housing benefits paid by the taxpayer).

      3. Roy Grainger
        December 4, 2022

        Uh ? But the whole point of Labour policy is that there should be NO competitors for water, electric, gas, rail or a host of other services. So lack of competition must be a good thing, right ?

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 4, 2022

          😂😂 pretty soon, unless they volte face, there will be no water, electricity, gas, rail or any other services. Our Government is on the ‘Ukraine pathway’ – similar to the ‘Liverpool pathway’ but for states.

          1. Mickey Taking
            December 4, 2022

            I like that – yes we are being denied life’s essentials. However the end will be drawn out in this case.

  6. turboterrier
    December 4, 2022

    The number one rule of improving anything in the public sector.
    Decision made to focus on a given area.
    Employ an expert to investigate the situation.
    Give him and his project a title.
    He employs people he knows and trust (tail gunners) to plan and implement his changes and protect his back.
    They in turn bring in their TGs
    They in turn request more TGs as the administration of the unit increases.
    Within in a year or less they then have created the situation of an “essential” department doing the job of what basically was forseen as a 1-3 person project.
    The emperor’s new clothes syndrome is still alive and running.

    1. outsider
      December 4, 2022

      Exactly so turboterrier. When a new problem, priority or project comes up, an entrepreneurial organisation puts one of its best people on it and if necessary gets a deputy/old hand to help out with their normal job while it is dealt with. The bureaucratic organisation hires a new “expert” and, as you say, creates a new team/department that never finally deals with the task because it has to come up with further action to justify its continued existence.

  7. Hat man
    December 4, 2022

    The middle class welfare state, providing layers of well-paid management positions, looks afters its own. But decent pay for nurses, so as to encourage staff retention, is apparently a problem.

    We do indeed know where the priorities are.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 4, 2022

      Just because you are paid a salary commensurate with what a middle class capitalist might earn, does not mean you are middle-class.

      1. Mickey Taking
        December 4, 2022

        middle class don’t need to earn…

  8. Donna
    December 4, 2022

    This model is endemic across the Government.

    We had county-regional based Police Organisations (they’re not a force and don’t provide a service) who weren’t performing well and were failing to deliver policing. So what’s the solution?
    a) The Sec of State instruct the Police Chiefs to drop the virtue-signalling and focus on real crime with the threat that any who failed to do as instructed and improve their organisation’s performance would lose their jobs

    b) Create Police and Crime Commissioners, with bureaucratic fiefdoms, to monitor their local police organisation but not give them any power to sack under-performing Chief Constables or actually DO anything

    Well it’s obvious …. more “Public Servants,” bureaucracy and a pretence that something was being done was the solution.

    The same with devolution: The English, with no Parliament of their own and therefore second class citizens in the UK, don’t want Regional Mayors. On the one occasion they were given a Referendum (Northumberland) they voted against it. But City/Regional Mayors are being imposed across the country with no democratic consent. Cornwall/Devon are now to get one. More bureaucracy; more “public servants” and more blurring of the lines of accountability.

    We are massively over-governed …. and that’s just how the Civil Service and politicians like it.

    1. Sharon
      December 4, 2022

      I agree Donna, The London mayor in particular should go! The current one has nearly killed off the city and I mean all aspects of it!

      1. Mickey Taking
        December 4, 2022

        I wrote a little while ago – halve or abolish H of L, same goes for H of C, abolish Mayors, reduce scope of Local councils and their politicians in sheep’s clothing.

    2. Julian Flood
      December 4, 2022

      (gloomily) Donna, we’re getting regional government too. More snouts in the trough.

      1. Hope
        December 4, 2022

        Hunt is embedding the EU regional model on the country that Prescott failed to achieve I 2003! Hunt wants to divide and conquer England against any resistance to align with the EU.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 4, 2022

          Hunt is going to be disappointed.

      2. Lifelogic
        December 4, 2022

        +1

    3. a-tracy
      December 4, 2022

      Donna, I agree with you, these Mayors are a complete waste of time and money. It is being proposed Cheshire gets a Mayor and Warrington gets thrown into the Cheshire Mayors region.
      There is no real connection to Warrington, Warrington is more Merseyside. Just as Stockport is classed as Greater Manchester not Cheshire East as it should be. Warrington’ s slap bang in the middle of Manchester and Liverpool; north of the Mersey, you can only get to it crossing the water from Cheshire south. Perhaps Burnham should just be NW Regional Mayor (representing a similar number of people than Khan) then at least we only get 7 of them in England rather than weak, fops paid a fortune for little return. We have 10 civil service commissioners. 4 Police Fire and crime commissioners (what is all that cost getting us other than jobs for the favoured few?)

      London gets one uber powerful Mayor, who gets away with poor decisions all the time, an exploding crime rate, appalling wokeness delivered on a monthly basis, he robs the transport services of advertising revenues on his personal yes or no. This Tory government wants more of that for the North! WHY? I thought we left he EU and their demands for more structures like they have.

    4. glen cullen
      December 4, 2022

      and the first thing they do is to create budgets and rise local taxes

      1. Mark B
        December 4, 2022

        My Mayoral Precipt rose 6 times inflation over the last few years. He is to impose ULEZ on the rest of the Capital which will impoverish many and force people off the roads.

        And all without a mandate and an Assembly which is nothing more than a talking shop.

        Now right there is REAL WASTE !!!

        1. Lifelogic
          December 4, 2022

          +1

    5. Mark B
      December 4, 2022

      The ‘Regional’ Mayors are an EU construct. They are designed to break up England and pave the way for eventual governance from the EU.

      1. rose
        December 5, 2022

        They are indeed, Mark. It was all planned under Blair. No more England. Just Balkanisation under Brussels.

  9. BOF
    December 4, 2022

    This morning’s excellent article has already prompted some useful suggestions.

    First and foremost, sack every diversity manager in the public sector and all who work for them. They contribute nothing, interfere in the efficient running of any service and bring woke politics into every aspect of the public sector. That of course is their purpose, but we never voted for this. Like the unworkable and unaffordable NZ (also not voted for), a huge drain on tax payers money.

    1. Sharon
      December 4, 2022

      Who can do the sacking? I don’t think MPs are able to sack the civil servants. JR?

      And as for Net Zero, because it was in the small print in the back page of the manifesto, I’ve heard the argument, we did all vote for it! Well I don’t know about anyone else, but at that time I was preoccupied with getting out of the EU! Which is exactly why, I should imagine, it was sneaked in. (Insert expletive of choice)

  10. Berkshire Alan
    December 4, 2022

    Whatever happened to the sensible but old fashioned idea, of simply employing the best person for the job in question ?
    Would anyone willingly take second, third, fourth best, and pay them the same, if their own money was at stake. Likewise with products and services, would you be willing to go out and purchase the worst house, car, just to satisfy someone else’s agenda ?
    No of course not. So why does Government think it is all a good idea to do exactly that, and employ more people to make sure it happens, and then even more people to enforce it !

    1. Dave Andrews
      December 4, 2022

      With the dumbing down of education, the best person for the job just doesn’t exist. Don’t expect to find someone with discipline when discipline is frowned upon.
      When I try to recruit an electronic engineering graduate, I find they don’t understand basic circuit theory. But then, the University is bound to pass them because if they fail undergraduates, they lose staff. I expect it’s the same all across education.

      1. Berkshire Alan
        December 4, 2022

        Dave
        You make a good point, when I was employing people a number of years ago, those with the so called qualifications were not necessarily the best candidates for the job in question, that is why a face – face interview was so important, as was the ability to read between the lines of a CV, and question the candidate on past employment, on general knowledge, and their own interests. However I stick to my point that a good employer would still be able to spot the real talent, if it exists.
        Another problem with recruitment is the supposed difficulty of past employers being frightened of giving a poor reference, the usual question of “would you employ this person again” sometimes helps.

      2. Mickey Taking
        December 4, 2022

        ask 16 year olds to tell you what a third is as a percentage. Stand by for vacant stare, and accusation look of ‘thats a trick question!’

  11. Shirley M
    December 4, 2022

    Give Ministers the right to hire and fire. Their ’employees’ will have the same protections as any other employee, and can sue if they consider it unfair dismissal. Then the Minister would truly be responsible for any incompetent employees, no matter how high ranking they may be!

    If they employ an incompetent ‘pal’ then the Minister quite rightly takes the blame. If a previous Minister deliberately or accidentally hired an incompetent and unwilling employee, then the new Minister can rid themselves of the burden.

  12. John McDonald
    December 4, 2022

    Sir John , this is all down to the raise of the “Management” culture over the past four decades. The Manager was a very rare person forty or so years ago. The role was there but covered by someone skilled in a particular discipline but could also organise – people, processes and materials to get the job done.
    The modern thinking is we can’t waste skilled people managing.

    The result – fewer skilled people making more reports to Management to keep the Management Culture going and expanding but not really focused on getting the job done.

    One can see this culture alive and well in Government. You don’t need to have MP’s with a real world skill and experience there in.

    Bring back the foreman, sorry foreperson.

    1. Sharon
      December 4, 2022

      Was this another American import?

      I remember a TV programme called The Royal. It was a hospital based drama. That showed the gradual arrival of ‘time and motion’ managers, who frankly just got in the way of the medical staff, by frequently stopping them to ask questions and record their answers. X 5000 now!

  13. HFClark
    December 4, 2022

    I have lost count of the number of occasions when I have been told that the person I need to speak to at my local surgery/health authority/hospital or whatever NHS dept is ‘not in today’. Too many work part time; the prize example being the staff member offering to bring an issue to the attention of her manager who worked on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only.
    Yes, really.

  14. Bloke
    December 4, 2022

    Govt is incompetent, sloppy and prefers to tolerate waste worsening instead of making sensible changes.

  15. Shirley M
    December 4, 2022

    I’ll try again. A report I read shows that almost 500 hotels are in exclusive use for our ‘uninvited guests’. Obviously, hotels are used because there is no other accommodation that provides the necessary high level of comfort. We have NO spare housing. Our ‘guests’ are still arriving approx. 500 per day. Where will you put them? Seriously! Where will you put them?

    1. Shirley M
      December 4, 2022

      ??? Is it not a valid question? One that will have to be answered?

    2. Berkshire Alan
      December 4, 2022

      Shirley
      Think you will find that Serco have been given a government contract to find rentable homes in the private sector wherever they can, and at market prices, even owners of holiday homes are being sought.

      Difficult to make it up isn’t it !

      1. Shirley M
        December 4, 2022

        Yes, Alan, but only in northern areas. I wonder how those tourist areas will survive when there is nowhere for tourists to stay, and all the hotel workers unemployed now and replaced by Serco staff. Is everyone expendable, so long as the uninvited guests get good care? Are hordes of young men (mostly from misogynistic cultures) going to help attract more business, or drive it away?

        1. Berkshire Alan
          December 4, 2022

          Shirley please do not think I support the idea, the only seats illegal immigrants should occupying, are on the boat or plane back to where they came from, and that should be within 24 hours.
          No paperwork, no entry, simples.

  16. Brian Tomkinson
    December 4, 2022

    This extract from a speech to Parliament in November 1995 by the late Tony Benn, in which he spoke about a fictitious boat race between the NHS and a Japanese crew, might help provide an answer. He said: “Both sides tried hard to do well, but the Japanese won by a mile. The NHS was very discouraged and set up a consultancy. The consultancy came to the conclusion that the Japanese had eight people rowing and one steering, whereas the NHS had eight people steering and one rowing. The NHS appointed people to look at the problem and decided to reorganise the structure of the team so that there were three steering managers, three assistant steering managers and a director of steering services, and an incentive was offered to the rower to row harder. When the NHS lost a second race, it laid off the rower for poor performance and sold the boat. It gave the money it got from selling the boat to provide higher than average pay awards for the director of steering services.”

    1. Mark B
      December 4, 2022

      Thanks for that 🙂

    2. Mickey Taking
      December 4, 2022

      Hadn’t heard that – wonderful…. and still so true.

  17. Daggs
    December 4, 2022

    The question should be “why does government cost so much” and achieve so little …………….

  18. agricola
    December 4, 2022

    Because nobody in government or in either houses in Parliament thinks to pause and ask what government should essentially be doing and what it most certainly should not be doing. Nor does any organisation within government control the degree of spending in following the pro-active policies they decide are essential. Within the myriad elements of government there are in effect empires being built to reflect the illusory self importance they endow themselves with. Government is the greatest drag on productivity this country is designed to endure. The sheer enormity of it demands that elements of the private sector are in existence merely to feed it. For example tax lawyers and accountants just to try to make sense of, and to protect private sector productive elements from the avericous insanity of politicians and their falsely named civil service. Government is an enormous Ponsi scheme of waste. The Reform Party need to articulate a programme to strip out the essential and consign government and the waste they create to the margins. In my book the British need to re-learn self reliance and government need to get out of their lives, so making it possible.

  19. Lisa
    December 4, 2022

    Government by it’s nature attracts people that want power over others. They do everything they can to acquire as much power as possible. This continually enlarges government from a janitor role providing basic services into a massive squid strangling the life from the country- a stage we are now at.
    Everything a government does is done badly and could be managed vastly better by private means. The best thing would be for it to disappear and all the leeching bureaucrats and politicos to find real work- which would make their lives much harder since most are unfit for any productive role.

  20. Hally
    December 4, 2022

    Why do we still have to listen to that discredited IDS again this morning on Sophie Ridge – he’s an expert on China now it seems – a few years ago he was an expert on Germany and Mrs Merkel and that the german car workers would be knocking down her door – and see where all of that got us.

  21. Kayla Tomlinson
    December 4, 2022

    Sir John thank you for the explanation. I had no idea. No wonder things are so bad….

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 4, 2022

      +1

  22. Julian Flood
    December 4, 2022

    Sir John, when I was a county councillor we fought against the attempt to place another layer of government above the already overloaded parish, Borough, County structure. This was spun by central government as being devolution. It was no such thing.

    Give counties control. Fewer councillors, fewer officials would save money. Alas, I see Norfolk and Suffolk are getting ‘devolution’. I wonder how much that is going to cost?

    JF

  23. turboterrier
    December 4, 2022

    It could all be stopped if like the major world class companies and organisations, introduce a new culture change programme to change the ethos of parliament which impacts on everything to keep pace with the changing world and its markets. It works but can be quite a painful, mercenary programme of change as personnel who only work one way (their way) cannot accept the changes for the better good of the party or country
    BWTF why bother with any of that its not my money so why bother to change? I will still get my pension.

  24. Cuibono
    December 4, 2022

    How about saving a bit of money BY NOT MONITORING OUR URINE WITH MICROCHIPS IN OUR BATHROOMS? ( I’ll go behind the shed before they get their mitts on my data!)
    The latest berserk rot from our Health Minister. Never mind his party is trailing horribly in the polls!
    We all know at whose behest this would be done
we are no longer units of labour
we are units of DATA!

    1. MFD
      December 4, 2022

      Good luck CUIBONO , to the “person” sent to chip the hole at the bottom of our farm yard down in Devon. We have some total dimwhits employed to run our country!

      1. Cuibono
        December 4, 2022

        Lol
        Is it a composting one?
        I reckon they are the way to go!

  25. David Cooper
    December 4, 2022

    Think also of those within such an organisation who are dedicated, broadly speaking, to getting on with their jobs in a productive and useful manner, but find their time wasted via requirements to fill in diversity questionnaires, attend net zero awareness courses and endure needless rounds of agenda driven appraisal and revalidation. Frequently they will find that they can only speak out at their peril, and that the lesser evil is to close their eyes and think of the pension.
    The bureaucrats’ mindset is, of course, symbolised via “You don’t understand. Were it not for all these wretched sick people making such a nuisance of themselves, we’d have a perfect NHS.”
    To coin a phrase, we need to drain the swamp. Where is the modern day man from Dyno-Rod to be found?

  26. DOM
    December 4, 2022

    The progressive and Moaist left control all areas of the State including public spending and the Tories are mere passengers. That process started in 1997 ie politicisation of our country and its people, and John’s party have signed up to it because they no longer have the energy and will to fight it

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      December 4, 2022

      Government is now just a hive of empires.

      Woke is a fantastic thing for it to be involved in. The potential for empire growth is limitless as different versions of woke are explored. Greenism too – where none of it (greenism nor woke) demands any skill or productivity but the exact opposite: reduction, tax and oppression… none of it requiring any measurement of tangible improvement. The poorer the people get the better, in fact.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        December 4, 2022

        Government creates its own feedback loop. Uncontrolled immigration causes crisis in all other areas which government says it has to deal with and demands more money and power… and on it goes.

        Why would they deliberately create poverty ? Why would they deliberately stoke up social discontent and racism ?

        To create need for themselves is why.

    2. Timaction
      December 4, 2022

      Indeed. All public sector selection processes were changed by new Liebour to ensure all future senior positions were filled by the left. That’s why after 25 years nothing and no one works. All are pc/woksters. The Tory’s have had 12.5 years to fix it but have chosen not to. The pretendy conservatives have been found out. Competence is not a word we’d associate with them.

  27. turboterrier
    December 4, 2022

    The clear debacle which is presently called a government who have totally ignored the total power of a 80+ seat majority which they could have used to bring in radical changes for the betterment of the country which they were elected to do is a clear indication about how poor the quality of our elected representatives really are.
    Parliament as is operating today falls into the category of “Not fit for purpose”. All parties are encapsulated within this category.
    Parliament needs to reinvent itself and go back to looking after what they were elected for. Very few members are worthy of the position they hold and the trust of their constituents.

  28. oldwulf
    December 4, 2022

    “Why does government cost so much?”

    The lack of adequate controls and accountabilty.

  29. acorn
    December 4, 2022

    Have a look at Annex 1,2 and 3 of WGA. There are about 1250 entities spending money from the public purse.
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whole-of-government-accounts-2019-20

    Somewhere in the annals of Westminster, there are bits of legislation that caused these entities, directly or indirectly, to exist.

    1. acorn
      December 4, 2022

      Conversations in my old local government Council Ward; centred in our local CO-OP supermarket; has hard line Brexiteers, now telling me that voting for Brexit, was a mistake. I tell them to never vote for a Thatcherite seditionist candidate ever again.

      1. Narrow Shoulders
        December 4, 2022

        When they voted to leave the EU they were taken in and foolish.

        Now they think it is a bad idea they are visionaries.

        What is wrong with this picture @Acorn

      2. Peter2
        December 4, 2022

        70 million people in the UK and acorn has decided by speaking to a handful of people in a particular random shop that brexit is now unpopular.
        Hilarious.

        1. acorn
          December 5, 2022

          In a constituency that voted 65% Tory on a 70% turnout in 2019, the local Tory party is finding it anything but “hilarious”.

          1. Peter2
            December 5, 2022

            65% is a good majority.
            You thinking those that didn’t vote were all non Tory is the hilarious conclusion.

      3. Sea_Warrior
        December 5, 2022

        Perhaps you might tell them that they enjoy some of the cheapest food in Europe – and that inflation is higher in Germany and Italy. But I doubt that you will, because you are part of a propaganda campaign.

      4. Mickey Taking
        December 5, 2022

        Did they know who Thatcher was? Did you explain seditionist to them? When given a voting slip did you explain how to recognise who you warn against?

  30. James1
    December 4, 2022

    There are far too many people in the public sector. Far too many of them focus on process rather than results. We don’t have “government of the people by the people for the people”. We have government of the people by the bureaucracy for the bureaucracy.

  31. Peter Parsons
    December 4, 2022

    If there are conflicting objectives and targets which cause different departments and/or teams to pull in different direction, then that is the fault of those at the top who are setting them. Unfortunately, too many of those at the top don’t like to “have their baby called ugly” and will force things through irrespective of how workable and deliverable their ideas are. Politicians are as guilty of this as anyone.

    This is as true in the private sector. I have worked for companies in the past where senior management come up with new ideas on how things should be organised, those of us on the ground look at it, know it won’t work, and provide that feedback, and senior management go ahead anyway because they think they know best. The typical consequence was business revenue falling off a cliff, demotivation of those of us at the sharp end of senior management’s failure and, after some period of time, senior management making more changes, this time in line with the feedback us grunts gave them in the first place (and, surprise surprise, business revenues bounced back).

    Responsibility for these conflicting objectives and targets lies with those at the top setting them. In the case of the public sector. this government and the Cabinet.

    1. Mark B
      December 4, 2022

      Peter

      What you highlight towards the end is the ‘feedback loop’ that private companies have because, if they did not, their competitors would and steal their market / work. The State is under no such threat.

  32. Original Richard
    December 4, 2022

    “Why does government cost so much?”

    Firstly expanding the size of the state expands their control over everything and everyone, until we become an authoritarian state.

    Secondly high spending on pointless and impossible projects such as Net Zero will destroy our economy and energy and military security.

    BTW, climate action is number 13 on the UN’s list of “Sustainable Development Goals” :

    https://sdgs.un.org/

  33. Ian B
    December 4, 2022

    Good morning Sir Jon
    Why does government cost so much?

    Simple, we have no Government. There is no one capable to step up to manage and direct the UK. As often said it is Government that is managed by the unelected and unaccountable.

    It is lazy, inept, neglect and just plain stupid naivety of Government to take (in this case you could say steal) taxpayers money then throw it around without any accountability. Government has to wake up, MP’s have to wake up they are all employed by the taxpayer to administer the spend of our money, they are the sole responsible party on ensuring value for money. Governments in the UK don’t have money of their own, and when they do take it from us they prove unreliable and ill equipped for purpose..

  34. Ian B
    December 4, 2022

    Why does government cost so much? Reading the contributions here shows that everyone, thats everyone knows the problem. There is no management in Government, they are a token body just like the QUANGO’s they have no purpose and have no function. Or in plain English they are a waste of money

  35. Burning Injustice
    December 4, 2022

    “These [targets] may be desirable in themselves…”
    The additional targets are positively harmful: they detract from what the bureaucrats are really there for and allow officials to deceive themselves that they are delivering against a balanced scorecard of objectives. All the additional targets are manna from heaven to the bureaucratic mindset.
    Re Quangos, Nigel Lawson recalls in his autobiography how he foresaw the problems of their accountability when they were first mooted in the 1980s. Lawson was dead against them.

  36. James Freeman
    December 4, 2022

    Parliament is responsible for imposing all these overlay objectives on the public sector. Those overlay regulations which apply to all organisations; which are bad enough. Many even duplicate themselves—for example, Caldicott principles for information sharing in the NHS, plus GDPR.

    During the pandemic, it was necessary to suspend many rules because it was impossible to control Covid using them. For example, there was no point in conducting a two-month procurement process for PPE when the medical staff needed it yesterday. The result was even more government waste.

    Parliament has imposed most of these objectives, so it should take the lead in fixing them.

  37. MFD
    December 4, 2022

    Too many civil servants employed and not enough productivity. I believe they could be cut by two thirds and still give good service with the right management.

  38. a-tracy
    December 4, 2022

    How many union pilgrims (and other names) paid by each public service (not out of their union subs) instead of performing the clinical functions they were hired to do? As the workers all pay union subs are the union paid workforce providing those functions or not now, if not and they were instructed to hire their own representatives then we’d have more clinical nurses back in the workforce as clinicians, or more money to spend on the wages of clinicians?
    If diversity managers and the like are part of the NHS HR department, just how much is HR costing in full compared to the private sector similar size organisations?

  39. Bryan Harris
    December 4, 2022

    Why does government cost so much?

    If it were just about money then the answer would be plain incompetence, but this goes much deeper than the inability to budget and use our taxes wisely.

    In 1995 governments around the world as part of the UN 2130 initiative created their own plans to fit in with this agenda – This is what subsequent governments followed, and a primary reason why we find ourselves in the awful state we are in.

    HMG hide so many things from the public, but it is time their real intentions were exposed.

  40. hefner
    December 4, 2022

    Who created the NHS Commissioning Board? Who was at the origin of NHS England?
    Hint: the whole rigmarole started in 2011.

  41. Bert Young
    December 4, 2022

    Economy and efficiency in management has always been a problem ; if independent effective and highly skilled expertise is not employed in deciding who is right for the job against a profile of at least a 5 year horizon goal , then subsequent costs and confusion are bound to arise . The process of decision should always start at the very top of the management tree and any doubts or weakness here should be removed at the outset .

  42. a-tracy
    December 4, 2022

    John, on twitter you say public sector spending has increased by 25% since 2018. One of the responses says Statista says it is only 12% in ‘real terms’. A lot was spent poorly in covid decisions prompted by the Health service, on the tvs every night, saying they were cutting up t-shirts as masks and wearing bin bags. So the government responded buying in too much at high cost which then wasn’t used. Why wasn’t it used, it was better than bin bags and cut up t-shirts surely? If the Government bought too much it was bought on instruction of the Health Service Managers.

    What % of the NHS workforce actually worked directly with covid patients from March 2020 to January 2021?

    Now favoured contracts to Tory mates is different and it will be got to the bottom of. Some of these people need to come clean and money needs recalling if products weren’t up to standard as is accused.

  43. Mickey Taking
    December 4, 2022

    The Conservative Party has asked their MPs to answer whether they intend to seek re-election in the next GE, last day tomorrow.
    I gather a number, 11 is it, have already declined – are you, Sir John intending to stand as Conservative once again?

    Reply Yes

    1. Mickey Taking
      December 4, 2022

      reply to reply…..please reconsider the Party you might represent.

  44. Stephen Reay
    December 4, 2022

    Reading kier Starmer’s piece that’s in the Guardian today is quite refreshing. People will vote for it, can he and the Labour Party pull it off?

    1. Roy Grainger
      December 4, 2022

      You read The Guardian ? Bizarre.

      1. Bill Mayes
        December 4, 2022

        LOL. Don’t you know The Guardian are the official script writers for BBC News? Go ask the old BBC TV News readers.

    2. Mickey Taking
      December 4, 2022

      reading the Grauinad is ‘refreshing’? A good laugh for next year’s fringe.!

  45. margaret
    December 4, 2022

    Over the years I have watched more and more organisation takin a cut out of the NHS, Didn’t these people just see how they could take money from public funds and get rich . They did this in the name of improvement !

    1. margaret
      December 4, 2022

      organisations …..taking …

  46. Keith from Leeds
    December 4, 2022

    Hello Sir John,
    A fish rots from the head down! There is your problem. A succession of weak PMs & Ministers who have allowed the Civil Service to rule them. The change needed is a dramatic reduction in the number of Civil Servants, about 75%, I would say, & a cull of Quangos by cutting off their finances, ( there are 27 Quangos involved with the NHS ), & the PM, Chancellor, & every Minister focused on not spending!!!!
    But when you have Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor & Sunak as PM there is no leadership, drive & determination to serve the people at the top of Government. The last Budget tells you all you need to
    know, tax more, squeeze the people & net-zero is the quickest way to bankrupt the UK!

  47. ChrisS
    December 4, 2022

    Watching Michael Portillo’s excellent programme at 10am on GB News this morning, there was an interesting discussion with two surgeons on health service inefficiency.

    It seems that full surgical teams are in place, ready for the first operation at 8am, but invariably are left sitting around for an hour because the rest of the hospital cannot get its act together to get the patients to the theatre on time ! Often the problem is lack of a porter to move the patient, or no certaint availability of an acute bed after the operation because the managers who organise these don’t start until 9am !

    I can only guess at the cost per hour of a consultant, his anaesthetist, specialist nurses, and the standing costs of the theatre, but it must run into thousands of pounds per hour, all wasted on a daily basis, and every operation lost is one more on the waiting list.

    This is such a simple and basic problem to resolve but the biblical resources of the NHS just don’t seem to be able to sort it.

    1. Mickey Taking
      December 4, 2022

      In our rather small sample of attending (about 5) for day procedures, arrival requested at 7.30. Find the waiting area – not a soul apart from patients assembling. Some time after 8 a female arrives, looking harasssed, power flicked on, coat taken off, what appears to be dashing away for a loo break, on return we have a small queue ready but the registration goes slowly…..First patient called 8.45.

  48. Keith Collyer
    December 4, 2022

    Let’s not forget that Margaret Thatcher introduced many of these quangos. Her stated aim was to reduce the number of civil servants. She did this by creating quangos whose staff were not civil servants. By the time she was kicked out the number of people on the public payroll was higher than when she came into office. A classic case of managing to the wrong target.

  49. William Smith
    December 4, 2022

    I totally agree with the numerous comments stating this Government, and the previous short lived tenure, are pathetically inept. There is no immediate accountability, Ministers only being judged for failure at a General Election. However, what choice does the Electorate have as all Party’s have the well-being of minorities rather than the majority at the forefront of their agendas. The Greens would bankrupt the country in their deluded aspiration of a carbon neutral world. The Liberals would continue to massively increase the population of the U.K. through uncontrolled immigration whilst increasing the amount of financial aid to countries which have a better financial standing than ourselves. The Labour Party would be a complete disaster with their wokish Union lead hypocrites steering us back under the control and management of the deplorably anti British European Union. Sadly I feel we are in the same political mire as the United States recently experienced i.e. Clinton or Trump, Trump or Biden. In reality it’s no matter where you put your cross you’re going to suffer badly for the next 5 years, unless of course you are one of the minorities.

  50. Sea_Warrior
    December 4, 2022

    O/T but nice to see Suella Braverman identifying what needs doing to stem the flood across the Channel. She seems to have a better understanding of human nature, and the wants of the electorate, than Boris.

    1. glen cullen
      December 4, 2022

      Its all talk ….come back to me when we’ve left the ECHRs

  51. The Prangwizard
    December 4, 2022

    Why not act, Sir John? Beyond debate. Big generalisations are welcome but it’s like trying to get hold of fog.

    Pick an NGO and campaign, campaign and campaign for its closure, its ending, its removal from everywhere. Support will be found with examples of their waste.

    When you have succeeded, move to the next one. Maybe other MPs will start their own case campaigns.

    1. Bill Mayes
      December 4, 2022

      It could be the PM has too much power in this country. I recall George W. Bush once saying that then PM Tony Blair had more power in this country than he did as POTUS.

      1. Narrow Shoulders
        December 4, 2022

        The President is the figurehead of the country like the King.

        Congress is the legislature like our government

      2. Mickey Taking
        December 5, 2022

        yes – a tragedy wasn’t it!
        USA tries to control nutcases, UK lets them run and run.

  52. Lynn Atkinson
    December 4, 2022

    I wonder whether Elon Musk has enough money to buy the British Government?
    He would sort the whole mess out in a jiffy.
    Might be the only solution!

    1. Mickey Taking
      December 4, 2022

      A collective sacking email overnight sounds like a great technique.

  53. Lindsay McDougall
    December 4, 2022

    This confirms my suspicion that in Government Departments and large corporations the waste is always AT THE TOP. On being given responsibility for social care, the very first thing that the NHS did was to advertise for the recruitment of 42 additional regional directors at ÂŁ200,000+ pa each. Another example is the OBR, which fulfils no useful purpose because it embraces the same neo-Keynesian doctrines and modelling techniques that the Treasury embraces. Then again there are the non-exec directors that many large corporations feel obliged to employ, sinecures for failed politicians and general purpose ‘worthies’ such as retired magistrates. We have a bloated, pampered and ‘woke’ monarchy that travels in private jets, Rollers, Bentleys, Aston Martins and Chelsea tractors while lecturing the rest of us about causing climate change. For good measure they travel abroad encouraging nations that hate the UK to demand reparation for imagined past evils. Then there is our Do Nothing judiciary that is miles behind in its trials of villains yet finds time to interfere in the Home Office’s assessment of which would be immigrants are wanted. The House of Lords has 820 members where 300 would suffice. We have devolved parliaments which attempt to acquire additional powers instead of using wisely the powers they have already got. We have elected city mayors that want to spend money raised by central government taxation rather than raised by themselves via council tax. And behind the scenes there is the Deep State of ‘independent’ (and unelected) advisors to the King, about whom we know little. Any more for any more?

    It needs nothing short of a revolution to get rid of these people. And if the King gets in the way, we could get rid of the monarchy and replace it by an elected ceremonial President like Germany’s.

  54. glen cullen
    December 4, 2022

    Indonesia’s massive volcano erupted yesterday and last week Hawaii’s massive volcano erupted 
but nothing to see here, they’re not man-made so of zero concern to climate change scientists nor the UN IPCC

    1. hefner
      December 4, 2022

      ‘Sentinel-2 satellite views erupting Mauna Loa volcano’, 29/11/2022
      ‘Satellite spots Indonesia volcano eruption’, 03/12/2022
      Sentinel-5P detected the sulphur dioxide emissions.

      copernicus.eu

      1. hefner
        December 4, 2022

        And I see in the web version of the FT 04/12/2022 an article ‘Visualising Mauna Loa’s eruption’ by C.Campbell & I.Bott even displaying an animation of the plume forecast including some data from 
 Copernicus.
        Have you ever tried to do a teeny weeny bit of search on the web before writing?

        1. Mickey Taking
          December 5, 2022

          he means where is the media coverage, the BBC exposing the atmospheric issues, the green/eco problem. SILENCE.

          1. hefner
            December 5, 2022

            Why that? A volcanic eruption putting particles and gases in the atmosphere is a pollution event affecting the weather certainly for days, possibly weeks, rarely more than a couple of years (as has been shown repeatedly for Pinatubo, Hunga Tonga, Cordon Caule, Merapi, Eyjafjallajokull, Alaskan volcanoes and all the others in the 20th and 21st c, see for example wikipedia ‘List of volcanic eruptions in the 21st century’).
            Talking as glen does about climate change, UN IPCC is simply showing that he does not understand the time scale of the influence that such events could have, climate-wise.
            As should be known by now, the accepted definition of climate is of the average of weather over 30 years. So is there really a need to jump like a flea condemning ‘the zero concern of climate scientists or UN IPCC’ following one or two particular eruptions?

            One cannot have it both ways, saying that a/ the concern for climate is much exaggerated and therefore should be piped down and b/ simultaneously that climate scientists/atmosphericists have no concern for volcanic eruptions.

            What about being consistent?

  55. Narrow Shoulders
    December 4, 2022

    The price of government is so high because a) Government thinks throwing money at a problem solves it b) because government wants to be liked so tries to solve problems that it should not be involved in and c) government has no price filter.

    1. Narrow Shoulders
      December 4, 2022

      d) government can borrow limitless amounts to be paid later instead of sticking to a budget.

  56. Bill Mayes
    December 4, 2022

    As I recall, Mrs Thatcher in Number 10, had a full staffing of 40-50 people. However, Mr Johnson managed to find jobs, within his residence, for some 400 people. Liz Truss was requiring around the same number as predecessor, Mrs T. Mr Sunak has how many? In March 2022 the Civil Service still employed 478,500 even though the Cov virus panic was over. During the Napoleonic Wars the Staff at MoD numbered less than 100. This year, 50K were there (some of the time!).
    The HoL has some 800 members and the HoC, 650 MPs.
    The USA equivalents for a total population some five times more than the UK, have only 100 Senators (v 798 Lords) and 450 Congressmen/ladies (v 650 MPs). Why do we need so many?
    If we are reduce the ever-increasing and enormous costs of Government, we should start with a cull of Parliament and work from there across ALL departments and ALL Quangos. And that includes all of these dubious and not scientifically verified “models” which appear to dictate and dominate where the Government goes next in a chosen agenda.
    What is really needed is the Top Business Management team from the Private Sector to research and review all of these Public Sector domains as though they were assessing the viability of a Private Company AND most importantly, have the PM act upon them for the people of this country. Will it happen? Not this time, I fear.

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