There is a phrase that has been fashionable for years in wonkland — places like the upper echelons of the civil service and high-end think tanks. The phrase is ‘evidence-based policy-making’. There, I bet that’s got you going.
When I was a citizen of wonkland and heard those words from the Sir Humphreys and Lady Susans I would typically roll my eyes or head for the door, because you can generally gather whatever evidence you want to justify whatever policy you want. In the end, you have to believe in something. Have the courage of your convictions and be judged by the results.
But the reason I bring this up is not to ruin your day with policy-wonk gobbledegook, but to do something far more exciting — to admit that even I can sometimes be wrong; that occasionally there really is evidence that is so strong, so overwhelming, so spectacularly, triumphantly, incontrovertibly persuasive of a certain point of view and course of action that you just have to suck it up and concede.
At Glastonbury, people are kind.
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