Incisive and topical campaigns and commentary on today’s issues and tomorrow’s problems
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/
What do mediocre Ministers do?
Mediocre Ministers go with the flow. Civil servants present them with issues to consider and problems to tackle. The Minister accepts the inherited policies and is guided by the submissions, often consenting to the civil service description of the problem and the preferred solution. The minister will let the civil...Read More »
J.C.D Clark The Enlightenment An Idea and its history
Jonathan Clark has sent me a copy of his new book on the Enlightenment. It provides a magnificent sweep of intellectual history over the long eighteenth century 1660 to 1832 and into the modern era. It considers the thought of England, Scotland, France, Germany and the USA.
Its central conclusion is...Read More »
Who rules? Ministers or civil servants?
Our constitutional theory is democratic. Civil servants advise, Ministers decide. Civil servants remain anonymous, putting their views to Ministers in private. Ministers defend the collective government decision in public which is a decision relevant Ministers and officials have reached through discussion and email exchanges.
This means a good Minister can make...Read More »
Fake news and censorship
It has rightly long been against the law to urge people to violence against others or to send out messages to people to join burglaries, looting or rioting. It is an offence to discriminate against people for their race or religion and to use hate speech against individuals or groups....Read More »
Labour’s inflationary wage awards are unaffordable
The new government solemnly promised that it would not make any important budget or fiscal announcement without a OBR report and forecast showing how it would be paid for. It condemned the Truss unfunded tax cuts though not her much larger unfunded spending rises made without a forecast. The tax...Read More »