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Do the government have any idea what they’re doing?

June 27, 2012 11:42 am

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Mark Ferguson

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Sometimes you just have to ask yourself – do the government have any idea what they’re doing?

Yesterday’s lightening quick u-turn on fuel duty (which we measured at around 15 hours) looked to many like a set up. Obviously Ed Balls must has known this fuel duty cut was planned, the media wailed. A leak must have somehow found itself from the Treasury to Balls.

Yet for a leak to have taken place, the fuel duty cut must have been planned in advance.

Chloe Smith’s disastrous performance on Newsnight has led many to suspect that she knew little of the fuel tax cut before it was announced – despite being the minister responsible for fuel duty. And today, it was confirmed that the cabinet – who met yesterday morning – knew nothing of the fuel tax cut until it was announced in the house.

Is government policy to the tune of half a billion pounds now being made on the hoof by the PM and the Chancellor on a Tuesday afternoon? The cabinet were as in the dark as the rest of us. The minister responsible for the cut can’t say how much it will cost.

What an utter mess.

What a bunch of rank amateurs.

Osborne might as well admit that his budget – delivered just a few weeks ago – is now a historical document, not an accurate description of what the government is actually doing. He couldn’t have made more of a mess of it if he’d been making it up as he went along…

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself – do the government have any idea what they’re doing?

James

Terrible speech on welfare reform by Cameron followed almost immediately by an off the cuff announcement of postponement of the forthcoming tax increase on fuel as a bribe by Osborne to win back lost favour.

Par for the course, of course.

What a bunch of tossers.
- treborc
  
  I did not listen to it, but if you put Blair and Browns reforms together with Cameron’s ideas, anyone got a sharp knife, and I’m hearing very little from Miliband.
treborc

I just spent ten minutes looking back on the internet political parties U turns, some of them have been costly U turn like ID cards like the Referendum on the EU constitution.

Gordon brown U turn on whether to have an early election cost labour £1.million

But of course if you go back to Harold Wilson and beyond you will see Political U turns to satisfy people.

I’m bloody grateful that Cameron has stopped this fuel tax for at least this year.

But the problem is of course Gordon Brown was a leader who could not lead, he wanted to be involved in anything and everything leaving his ministers asking why did he not ask me or tell me, he left me looking like an Idiot, Cameron sadly is very much the same, if he had a meeting with his ministers to tell them this is what we will be doing then this young lady would have been able to give a direct answer.

But Brown Blair all did the same thing,
- Cari_esky
  
  I never know if you are Labour or not. Are you?
Cari_esky

Simply no they don’t. A lot of people sense the storm clouds are circling around the economy for it to get even worse and they just do not have a clue as what to do.
JC

I think it is often a problem with a coalition. There are a wide range of opinions in the LibDems, sometimes with them holding more than one at the same time. This is a leaky government, and it has become apparent that Osborne is keeping his cards more closely to his chest than he did in the days coming up to the last budget.

It is obvious that some LibDems are deliberately leaking to try to cause a coalition divorce. The Tory response is to let less information out. Nevertheless, some will get out – some to the press, some to the Labour Party especially from those LibDems leaning more to the left (Hughes et al). Just because someone didn’t know it was going to happen doesn’t mean that it wasn’t planned and that the great Ed Balls was able to force it.

Unless of course, you actually know different.
- treborc
  
  Well Hughes was on TV last night, and to be honest if he is looking for a divorce he’s have a last sexual fling then, because he did not sound like somebody who was looking to break away, oh yes he has problems nothing a marriage guidance advisor could not fix .

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