How to get nothing done

I sometimes wonder whether our government makes any decisions at all. In fact I’m trying to think of any area of public policy that is not the subject of a review, commission, inquiry or similar. The most charitable explanation for this trend is that it worsened in the coalition years. Whenever the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives couldn’t agree on anything they could always kick the matter into the long grass by commissioning a review. So much better than risking upsetting Nick Clegg.

All this of course has a deep impact on the country, because it means nothing actually gets done. I am sure you will all remember the Casey review (2016). This was commissioned by David Cameron’s government from the admirable Louise (now Baroness) Casey. Its remit was to look into problems of integration in the UK. After much work, Casey delivered her review, was thanked for it, and I am sure that you will all agree that in the years since we have all noticed integration in the UK improve massively.