Where a clerical team is fuelled by Bara Brith

It would be fair to say that,as a bureaucrat, my natural environment is a clerical one. Envelope stuffing, leaflet batching, these are the tasks that this bureaucrat was designed to carry out.

And so I was pleased to discover on arrival at the headquarters of the Cardiff Liberal Democrat campaign, that there was clerical work to be done. I was reunited with my jacket, wallet, Oyster card and the Party mini camcorder in a touching ceremony, before throwing myself into a flurry of envelope stuffing on behalf of Dominic Hannigan, our candidate for Cardiff South and Penarth. There was plenty of banter and good humour as the pile of envelopes shrank, fuelled by some excellent tea and Bara Brith.

Campaigns require candidates, agents, canvassers and leaflet deliverers, the public face of a political party, if you like. However, there are some even more unsung characters, those who do the clerical work. They're often older members, who have experienced the vagaries of politics over decades, but who are less able to get about.

It helps if the tea is good, and I have to say that the two Jenny's, Willott MP and Randerson AM, make very good tea. It seems like a very long time since Jenny W was approved as a Parliamentary candidate (I was on that panel), but she's clearly aging better than I am. It was nice to meet Jenny R again. We got to know each other on last year's Liberal Democrat Friends of India delegation, and she's always good company.

Sadly, it was soon time to leave Cardiff, and head for the last stop of the weekend's tour, Newport...

Multitasking in Hereford...

The advantage of visiting a campaign is that, at a pinch, you can fulfil just about any role for a little while and, on arrival in Hereford, it turned out that there was a bit of leafletting to be done. Now whilst I may not be the fastest across the ground, I'm persistent, and so I was happy to get out into the afternoon sun and do a little to help Sarah Carr defend Hereford and South Herefordshire for the ravening hordes of Conservatives.

I was accompanied by Steph, whose husband, Chris, is a fellow member of the East of England Regional Executive. We're both old hands in campaigning terms, so we were able to get the job done with minimum fuss. I delivered one leaflet and, just as I was walking away, a man came out with the leaflet screwed up, telling me that he didn't want anything to do with the Tories. I pointed out quite politely that I wasn't an evil f**king Tory (his words, not mine), but a Liberal Democrat, which seemed to meet with approval. So much so indeed that he accepted a replacement leaflet (I had a spare).

Otherwise, it was a fairly easy delivery, and we were finished in time to get to the evening's focal point, the adoption meeting. With speeches from Paul Keetch, our outgoing MP, Ros and Chris Green, our former candidate on a number of occasions and now President of the Local Party, Sarah was in good company. And, as it turned out, good heart too, as she gave a powerful speech, rallying the troops for the campaign ahead. There was beer from the Wye Valley Brewery, which I thought I had earned, and so I stood at the back, pint in hand.

My journeying wasn't over though, as I needed to do something about the missing jacket...

Was that just a hint of cowardice, Mr Mounsey?

It appears that, on occasion, there are risks in treating people in a vile manner. Yesterday, the leader of the Libertarian Party and angry blogger, Chris Mounsey aka Devil's Kitchen, met with a terrible fate, when his past unpleasantness caught up with him. In a brief interview with Andrew Neil, he was admittedly ambushed with a quote from one of his more angry postings, in which he expressed the wish that a union leader he disagrees with should "bleed to death".

As someone who believes for the most part in playing the ball rather than the man, you might reasonably expect me to disapprove of young Mr Mounsey. Indeed, I do disapprove of his style. However, as long as he doesn't break the law, he should be free to express himself as he wishes, a basic tenet of libertarianism, I should have thought.

However, what surprised me was that, as a supposedly stout defender of freedom, when challenged, he caved in and accepted that he should apologise to the union leader concerned (and did), and with equal alacrity accepted that his behaviour was unacceptable in a Parliamentary candidate - even though he isn't one.

It seems that treating your fellow humans in a vile way is easy if done in a quasi-anonymous fashion, but as soon as he was called on it where everyone knew that it was him, he squirmed in a rather craven manner. Indeed, subsequently, he has decided that his job is rather more important than his integrity.

Fair enough. He enjoys his job, and he'd quite like to keep it. However, he has made a series of extremely provocative statements over time, and seems unwilling to defend them. If they are wrong now, they were wrong then, and he should buy a few reams of paper and a couple of hundred stamps for the letters of apology. If they were right then, they are right now, and he should have stood by them.

Perhaps he has learnt a valuable lesson though, that with certain types of behaviours come consequences. And if you can't handle those consequences, perhaps you should stay out of the kitchen?...

What's the difference between David Cameron and this?

It appears that David Cameron doesn't fancy having to deal with any difficult questions, and is giving Jeremy Paxman the swerve.

Given that I thought that Nick did really well despite Paxman being his usual sneering self, one might almost get the impression that DC didn't think that he could do as well. Actually, now I think about it, he probably couldn't...

Big Bird is usually only too happy to answer questions though... and he's certainly more credible... and he isn't a chicken...

Across Offa's Dyke again...

Sunday morning was another of those rather lovely spring days when the idea of being outside seems pretty attractive, so I was pleased to be off to Malvern to do a spot of canvassing.

West Worcestershire is a seat where we've been knocking on the door for a while now, and Richard Burt was in confident mood when we arrived. Stopping only to grab a cup of tea, we were off, accompanied by one of our most recent recruits, Edward Macmillan-Scott, an MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, who left the Conservative Party last year. The only catch with having good weather is that everyone else wants to be out too, but we did meet some supporters and it was certainly a worthwhile exercise.

I took the opportunity to talk to Edward about the way in which his former Party selected its European candidates - there was considerable disquiet amongst Conservative activists last time - and he was very interesting on the subject.

But all too soon, it was time to head off again...

Adopting Roger Williams - such a good idea, they did it twice!

In some parts of the country, there is a tradition of holding formal adoption meetings. It doesn't happen everywhere, but it offers the opportunity to press release the launch of the campaign, but also to rally the troops. In Brecon and Radnorshire, with two old Welsh counties within its boundaries, there is a natural, if friendly, rivalry, so this year, the Local Party decided to have two, one in Brecon for Brecknockshire, and one in Llandrindod Wells for Radnorshire.

This meant retracing our steps somewhat, and we made our way to the Castle Hotel in Brecon for the first instalment of 'Roger Williams, our Local Voice'. I bounced out of the car and reached for my jacket... which wasn't there... There was a dawning memory of putting it on the back of a chair in Merthyr, and an equivalent realisation that I was,kt going to get back to collect it, my wallet or the mini camcorder leant to me by the Party. Not good... However, I rang Kevin who, coincidentally, was heading down to Cardiff to stuff some envelopes. He was kind enough to agree to convey my things to the Cardiff campaign HQ for later recovery...

It is a sign of the respect earned by Roger that his adoption meeting was hosted by Kirsty Williams and addressed by the Party President, both of whom spoke with passion about Roger's qualities and of how dreadful it would be to lose the seat, and the election, to the Conservatives. Kirsty, who lives in, and represents the constituency, spoke of how she didn't want to wake up on 7 May having a Conservative MP to represent her.

The adoption itself was proposed by Richard Livsey, the much-loved and hugely respected former MP for the constituency, and now Lord Livsey of Talgarth. I have a very high regard for Richard, and took the opportunity to compliment him for his speech in the Lords on the pig industry.

Roger spoke of the 1909 meeting at the Albert Hall in Llandrindod Wells, where 1200 people crammed in to debate the 'People's Budget', the largest meeting of its type anywhere in the country, with 200 more unable to gain entrance. Conservatives and Liberals battled to win the day for their side, and a song was published in the local newspaper, proclaiming the virtues of the proposals. Yes, Liberals, and in particular, Lloyd George, were campaigning for fairer taxes even then...

Onwards to Llandrindod Wells, where a repeat performance was given in the old Spa Rooms, before we adjourned for an excellent dinner at the Hotel Metropole. Ros was worth it...

A Merthyr mystery adventure in the Valleys

Lembit sent us on our way with a gift, a faggot each. "Don't look at them, just eat them, they taste much better than they look!", he advised. We certainly needed the sustenance for the next leg of the journey.

Anyone who knows mid-Wales will be familiar with two roads, the A470 and the A483, which link North Wales with Cardiff and Swansea respectively. They wind their way around the hills, occasionally joining together, passing through some incredibly pretty scenery. Quick, they aren't, but they have their compensations.

Through Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells we passed, and onwards to Brecon, where we stopped for a quick bite of lunch. As we drove away, back the way we had come, I noticed three LibDem stakeboards, encouraging me to vote for Roger Williams. "They weren't there half an hour ago, were they?", I mused. "No,", replied Ros, "but there's a fourth in the hedge!". Yes, the Brecon and Radnorshire LibDem stakeboard team were hard at work...

We arrived in Merthyr Tydfil on time, and met Amy and Kevin. Amy Kitcher is our gallant candidate in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, the public face of a campaign organised by Kevin, her husband. The team is small but enthusiastic, and they are determinedly taking the fight to Labour in one of its most traditional strongholds. If places like Montgomeryshire and Ceredigion are places where liberalism has been strongest, Merthyr is a contender for similar status for Labour. The difference is that Labour take places like this for granted, barely bothering to campaign.

On the doorstep, I found the reception to be polite, and in some cases even warm. There is much grumbling about the uselessness of the sitting MP, and a sense of pleasant surprise that someone cares enough to knock on their door. Amy is great on the doorstep, and a number of people took posters to display.

Returning to the campaign HQ, there was a crisis. The supply of teabags had run out, so I volunteered to make good the shortage, hung my jacket over the back of the chair, and enjoyed a nice cup of tea. All too soon though, it was time to go. Our next event was only and hour or so away...

Lembit and Ros go for a gentle stroll in Newtown

The sun shone, and in the fields, lambs frolicked, as we made our way back into Montgomeryshire. Indeed, for miles and miles, there was little else to be seen but green grass, rolling hills and a vast number of white, fuzzy bundles of generalised cuteness/potentially great meals (delete as appropriate). However, having driven for twenty-seven miles, the car reached Newtown, and it was time to experience campaigning Lembit Opik-style.

The plan was that there would be some canvassing, but it became apparent that, in order to get to the chosen location, we would have to walk through the centre of town. This was made somewhat more of a challenge by the fact that everybody appears to know Lembit. Indeed, so much so that car drivers stop and wave, little old ladies smile at him, and there is always someone who wants to chat.

It feels like a throwback to old-fashioned political campaigns, where the MP doesn't campaign, but simply does his or her job and, in doing so, secures the support of the electors. It is high profile, high energy and tremendously entertaining. Lembit will suddenly dart into a shop to talk to the manager, or buy something, or press a sticker onto the doll of a small child, making the idea of steering him in a particular direction an impossibility. Indeed, if you're not careful, he can disappear, which means that you have to go back and gently extricate him from whoever it is he's talking to.

I don't think that I have ever seen someone enjoy their campaigning as much as Lembit appears to. Everywhere we went, Lembit introduced Ros, explaining who she was with some pride, and the two of them talked to people going about their business, finding out what was worrying them, not reciting policy but just listening sympathetically and responding with ideas.

At one point, our party descended on the local branch of Corals, in an attempt to find out what odds you can get on Lembit retaining his seat and, whilst we were in there, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to place a bet on the Grand National. I'll draw a veil over the performances of Dream Alliance and Character Building but, if you're interested in making some easy money, Lembit is 11/4 on to retain Montgomeryshire.

And let me tell you, those look like very generous odds...

In which I discover that spelling Aberystwyth is far less difficult than one might think...

Until Friday, I had been to Aberystwyth only twice, once on a family holiday more than thirty years ago, once to report back on the Welsh Young Social Democrat merger ballot. Neither occasion had been entirely successful. And so, it was with a little trepidation that I accompanied Ros to the jewel of the Cambrian Coast for the first stop of our second tour.

The train journey to Wolverhampton passed uneventfully, the hire car collected and we were off. Leaving Shrewsbury, we soon crossed the border into Montgomeryshire, bypassing Welshpool and heading off into the hills of Powys. The road passed through fields filled with young lambs and, as the miles passed, it became apparent just how big Montgomeryshire really is, and just how sparsely populated.

All of a sudden, we were in Ceredigion though, and the roadside was festooned with green and gold stakeboards, green for Plaid Cymru. gold for Mark Williams. And there really are a lot of them, as the seat's status as the only Plaid/LibDem marginal implies. Plaid really want the seat back, having lost by just 219 votes last time, but Mark is doing what he can to keep it in the LibDem column.

Having been greeted by Mark, his family and a group of local activists, we were whisked off to do some canvassing. Finding such low levels of Conservative or Labour support is unusual and it was reassuring that supporters from 2005 appear to have remained loyal. One resident told me that he had voted for Roderic Bowen, and for Geraint Howells, and that I could be confident that Mark could count on his vote. For this is a place where liberalism is a philosophy with deep roots. Non-conformist, independent people, who need to be persuaded one at a time, and who have a strong sense of community that, as a long-time city dweller, I have had to live without.

The bookies will tell you that this one is going to be close, and they may well be proved right. But if Mark loses, and I dearly hope that he doesn't, he will have done everything possible. And Aberystwyth on a sunny afternoon is really quite beguiling...

I've been away - time to catch up...

It's been pretty busy over the past four days, so forgive me if I take a little while to catch up. I hope that you think it's worth the wait...

Public sector efficiency savings - is there no-one in the Conservative Party paying attention?

Listening to David Cameron this morning on the Today Programme, it suddenly dawned on me why he keeps George Osborne as his Shadow Chancellor. It's because he knows less about finance than even George does. His bumbling efforts to justify how he was going to find £6 billion made the back of the envelope job that George uses to justify the NIC non-rise (it isn't a cut, might I make it clear) look like an IMF report.

So, for the benefit of Conservatives everywhere, and for any journalists keen to actually probe Conservative fiscal policy, here are a few points to be borne in mind;

1. Most of the Civil Service is now covered by multi-year pay deals. Most of them aren't exactly generous, with some Departments already having a pay freeze in place.
2. Most of the paybill increases go towards those junior staff whose salaries are further down the pay scale, i.e. they're being paid less than their colleagues for doing the same job.
3. Many departments have severely curtailed recruitment in recent years, for example, HM Revenue & Customs is in the middle of cutting 25,000 jobs over six years whilst avoiding compulsory redundancies - until now, that is.
4. If you lose staff through natural wastage, they may very well not be the people you want to lose - after all, it's the ambitious and the more highly-skilled who attract most offers of alternative employment.
5. Rates of natural wastage are lowest during a recession and in the period shortly thereafter - government jobs are seen as more secure.
6. Any alteration to NIC rates would impact upon a whole year's income, whereas the impact of natural wastage disproportionately falls in the later part of the fiscal year.

But I come back to a point that I've made in the past, the most effective way to deal with the size of government is to decide what you want it to do, then staff it accordingly. Making changes on the hoof stretches out the inefficiencies caused by process changes, demoralises staff - making them less efficient and less motivated - and tends to create waste as the level of monitoring increases to justify the changes made.

There is another point too. The Conservatives have made it clear that they will protect some areas of government activity at the expense of others. What that means is that they will have to recruit new staff in some areas, or transfer staff from one Department to another. The former is a breach of their declared policy, the latter is expensive, with excess fares, grants for house moves, and all the rest of it.

Significant savings are to be found from the Government estates, by transferring them to the private sector, from retrenchment. Interestingly, the fact that there might be leasehold agreements appears to have been overlooked. And given that this was the week in which the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published its report into the impact of the transfer of the Inland Revenue estate to Mapeley, an off-shore tax avoidance device (was that embarassing or what?). What that demonstrated was that public sector organisations aren't great at managing such contracts, and that ability isn't going to develop overnight.

All in all, the notion that there are efficiency savings to be had isn't a nonsensical one. The problem is, in the rush for 'quick wins', much that will be done will be negative in the medium and long term. Over an economic cycle, the rewards for getting it right are potentially huge. In the short term, that might mean upfront investment, and there are no signs that the Conservatives understand that...

Rail franchises - good, indifferent and...

Ros has brought home something shiny yesterday and I was duly mesmerised. It has trains, statistics and another opportunity to moan about my local Train Operating Company. What more could an irritable bureaucrat ask for then but a copy of the Autumn 2009 National Passenger Survey, produced by Passenger Focus?

I have been quite harsh in my criticism of National Express East Anglia over the past year, but had I been unrealistic in my expectations? It appears not.

In every category relating to train facilities, satisfaction ratings for NXEA passengers is below average except one, 'how well train company deals with delays', where they are average. Punctuality, cleanliness, value for money, toilet facilities, in every other category, they perform badly compared to other franchises. In other words, you can expect a worse experience on NXEA than you can with virtually any other franchise.

The only consolation is that First Capital Connect are even worse...

Former tax exile supports Tories, having already threatened to leave the country over tax

To be honest, I've always had my doubts about celebrity endorsements, especially given the possibility that even the most seemingly squeaky clean ones have something in their background that may return to haunt them. And today's launch of Conservative proposals for a 'National Citizens Service' had one of those touches that indicates why one should be wary.

Sir Michael Caine was called upon to wax lyrical about the plans. Nice. On the other hand, having been a tax exile for the best part of two decades, I might need to be convinced that his interests are those of the country at large. Indeed, the fact that he publicly announced last year that, if tax rates increased further, he'd be leaving the country, might indicate that far from "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", Conservatives are supported by those whose allegiance is to the country with the lowest tax rates.

I'm assuming that his call for a second chance for the Government won't be appearing on a poster near you anytime soon...

House of Lords debates you might have missed - Agriculture: British Pig Industry

There is a delicious irony that the last question for short debate in the Lords before the General Election was related to all things porcine. Lord Palmer was keen to debate the difficulties faced by the British pig industry, a subject dear to my own heart, as I live in a county with significant numbers of pig farms, a number of which can be seen from the A14, where pigs roam free, wallowing in the mud, before becoming pork (I'm rather fond of pork).

Lord Palmer, who had called for the debate, noted that 70% of the pigmeat imported into this country would be illegal if it had been produced here, and that only 29% of bacon consumed here is produced in the United Kingdom.

For the Liberal Democrats, Lord Livsey of Talgarth, our former MP for Brecon & Radnor, spoke of his experiences managing a farm in Perthshire where there were 70 sows producing 600 bacon pigs. His concerns were linked to the behaviour of supermarket chains, who have 80% of the retail market, and he called upon the Government to fully install the supermarket retail ombudsman.

Apparently, whilst all of this was going on, someone was seeking the dissolution of Parliament and launching an election campaign. Given that members of the House of Lords don't get a vote anyway, there are undoubtedly those who hadn't noticed...

Health: Labour promise more targets, more verbosity

It seems unfair that I should point out some of the weaknesses and contradictions in Conservative health policy, and leave the red team out. So, I've had a look at the Labour website to see what they've got in store for us...

A lot of platitudes, is the first thing that hits me;

We will ensure that the NHS is always clinically driven, patient centred and responsive to local communities, and based on need not ability to pay.

I do find myself wondering whether any political party would call for an NHS which was anything but clinically driven, etc, etc. However, there are signs that their control freakery has by no means reached its limits.

we are turning waiting time targets into legally enforceable guarantees for all patients: a maximum two-week guarantee on cancer referrals, and a maximum 18-week guarantee for hospital treatment, as well as rights to free health checks and to evening and weekend access to GPs

Legally enforceable? Does that mean that, if I don't get my cancer referral in two weeks, I can go to court to get it? Given that such legal action could take years to go through the courts, what is the point? And who pays? If a healthcare provider fails due to the ill health of a consultant, what happens?

There is an impressive list of achievements at the end of the statement, you know the type, tractor production up 37.2%, that sort of thing. However, there has been a cost. In fiscal year 1997, the United Kingdom Government spent £41.6 billion on health care. By fiscal year 2010, spending is expected to be £118.7 billion. I make that about twice as much in real terms (if someone would like to check that, I'd be grateful, but it looks about right).

For that kind of investment, I'd expect a hell of a lot of improvement, but most voters are unlikely to sense that they've got it.

We can safely assume that the centralising, target-setting trend will continue:

We will give hospitals incentives to focus on quality as well as quantity through the introduction of powerful financial incentives which will link payment to quality, including patient satisfaction.

I do worry about the notion of allocating funds based on patient satisfaction, but incentives that require vast amounts of data gathering will merely cause more bureaucracy, contrary to the search for efficiency savings. Let us be blunt here, the public don't like bureaucrats, don't believe most of the statistics that come from government, and those that do don't for the most part, refer to them when making health care decisions.

What is missing is a big idea, and this looks very much like 'one more push'. It's harmless, and aspirational. I just don't think that it's affordable...

Twitter: I may be making an awful mistake here...

Never let it be said that, here at 'Liberal Bureaucracy', we shy away from technology and the new means of social intercourse. Not that we understand it, mind you, but one must apparently face the future of wireless telephony and little gadgets that allow you to play 'Word Mole' on the subterranean railway.

Accordingly, a new Twitter account has been opened - no, don't understand that either - and I give you...

@honladymark

We'll see how it goes...

An alternative campaign song for the next four weeks?

I don't know about you, but I quite like the Liberal Democrat campaign song written for this election. On the other hand, this Sheryl Crow song keeps coming into my head...

And on this basis, our great nation is governed...

Earlier this afternoon in the House of Lords...

The Earl of Onslow: As I have conceded several times in your Lordships’ House, I am the first to say that the reason I am allowed to boss you about is because one of my forebears got drunk with Pitt or Walpole—a form of “Thank you very much for that last bottle of port”—but that is not acceptable in a modern state.

Call me old-fashioned, but I find this curiously reassuring...

Meanwhile, back in the Lords - "It's time for a futile sacrifice, ladies and gentlemen"

Ah yes, the joys of a wash-up which has been stitched up by the Labservatives in advance. Today sees four bills go through the committee, report and third hearing stages, driven through the Lords one after the other by an unholy alliance of Labour and Conservative benches;

• the Crime and Security Bill
• the Energy Bill
• the Children, Schools and Families Bill, and;
• the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

In the enabling debate that allowed this abortion of a democratic manoeuvre to go ahead, Paul Tyler moved an amendment to the enabling motion suspending Standing Orders. There was a debate, and the Liberal Democrats supported it in numbers, only to lose by a 4:1 margin to the forces of darkness.

It is expected that this will be the story of the evening, but 'Liberal Bureaucracy' will report further as the Liberal Democrat Peers launch a series of futile missions over the top into no man's land, only to be gunned down by the enemy...

Conservative health policy - can you spot the contradictions?

The recent announcement by the Conservatives that they will provide cutting edge cancer drugs to those that need them is, as usual, pretty good politics. Yet it is another spending commitment which indicates that, whilst flashy rhetoric is a strong point, financial management and an understanding of basic bureaucracy is still sadly lacking. I was, however, moved to see what else the Conservatives have to say on health...

There are some apparent contradictions between their stance on devolved decision making and their stance on access, for example;

• they will 'devolve decision-making closer to patients'
• they will 'create an independent NHS Board to allocate resources to different parts of the country and make access to the NHS more equal'

I think that most liberals would support the former, but if you're devolving power at one end, why give power over resource allocation to an independent body? Who sits on such a body? How is it accountable and to whom? Or is this just another quango, of the type the Conservatives have sworn to abolish?

Indeed, by allocating resources from the centre, and standardising access - because that's what 'making access more equal' means - how does that reflect devolution of decision-making? Surely, if your patients decide to allocate resources in a particular manner, unless they all make the same decision, access will not be equal.

Moving on though;

• they will 'scrap all of the politically-motivated process targets'
• they will 'measure their success against those countries with the most effective systems of healthcare'

Not all of the politically-motivated targets then, or at least, the introduction of a different set of politically-motivated targets. And, in any case, what does 'most effective' mean? Is that in terms of survival rates, is it in terms of cost? And that is an important question. If you're a cancer patient, the most effective treatment is the one that cures you. If you're controlling the budget, it's the one that saves most lives at the lowest cost. Both are the correct answer, and each is irresponsible when looked at through the eyes of the other.

The implications of a market in healthcare appear not to be understood either. The Conservatives will give everyone the power to choose any healthcare provider that meets NHS standards. Whilst that, once again, looks very attractive, it assumes the existence of spare capacity in the health system. That spare capacity costs, as spare beds need to be kept in good condition even if they're not being used. Also, if customers gravitate towards the best, you will need to find additional resources to allow those providers to extend their level of provision. That means additional expenditure, and with inflation in the health market consistently running above that in the economy as a whole, and the burden of geriatric care moving in one direction only, it is hard to see where the funds will come from.

Yes, the Conservatives offer to cut one-third off of the cost of NHS administration. Yet they promise an 'information revolution', making detailed date about the performance of trusts, hospitals, GPs, doctors and other staff available online. In principle, that's a great idea. However, you need an army of staff to gather that data, the very staff who are to be culled in vast numbers. Add the commitment to compare a performance with our neighbours, and you build into the system great swathes of bureaucracy, causing people to count things, and not actually delivering any healthcare. They will also link GP pay to the quality of the results they deliver. Again, more number crunching, more staff needed to do the monitoring.

There is a lack of consistency here that may well be exposed, and if the Conservatives don't show some fiscal discipline soon, the currency markets may well take the decision out of their hands.