Another sober, measured, fair-minded analysis by me of the way Government has tried to emulate Business for two decades. And failed:

It all started back with Mrs Thatcher, who took the view that the Civil Service was full of stuffy, stodgy wets who needed to be a lot more businesslike. So, more businesslike we were supposed to become.

This created modish ideas for bringing in ‘targets’ and ‘objectives’. “If you don’t know why you have this procedure or what it is meant to achieve, why are you doing it?”

Slowly but surely in the ensuing 20 years that more or less sensible proposition mutated like a horrible growing slimy blob, until it engulfed and suffocated Ministries, then Whitehall, then finally the whole of the UK...

Over at Business and Politics.

Those of you who are paying attention will notice that B&P is getting a cleaner and meaner look, and steadily increasing substance.

More to come...