Talking a good game. Blagging. Spouting hot air. Nothing is more infuriating than politicians and bureaucrats blame-shifting and giving breezy platitudes about how to fix a problem without actually doing anything to fix it.
This week it’s potholes on our roads. In a stunning show of style over substance, the government has told councils they must each publish an annual progress report on action to tackle potholes or risk losing funding. PM Keir Starmer says today’s press release means his government has now “done our part.” Cue a procession of council spokespeople boring radio listeners on how they’re “XX per cent through the backlog despite an XX per cent budgetary shortfall.”
So, to be clear, our government’s plan to sort out Britain’s “pothole plague?”
That’s right …. reports on potholes. Loads of reports. Paperwork. Red tape. Not actually fixing potholes. You couldn’t make it up.
And Britain’s habit of spouting drivel and blame-shifting, rather than actually doing stuff to fix stuff, is evident elsewhere too.
Heathrow blame game
Take the unseemly post-match bickering after last week’s power supply outage at Heathrow, which impacted 200,000 passengers. Willie Walsh of the International Air Transport Association blames the airport. National Grid says there was plenty of power. Heathrow says ah yes but safety was maintained at all times.
Deflection. Blame-shifting. Hot air. When what we need is leadership: an apology, owning the failure regardless of whose fault it is and implementing a plan to avoid repeats.
Spring Statement: Will Reeves see sense?
Which leads us neatly on to this Wednesday’s Spring Statement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. In the autumn, despite framing it as a pro-growth budget, the detail was anything but. The main offender was a crippling hike in National Insurance which, even before it came into effect in April, has already led to countless SMEs cutting jobs and cancelling plans to create them.
So, will Reeves accept her error and correct it this Wednesday? Correct it not with hot air but with a cold hard policy change? Let’s hope so.
