Tony Blair popped into King’s College London this morning to discuss ‘how to run a government’ with his former adviser Michael Barber. Amongst other things, the former Prime Minister discussed David Cameron’s efforts to remodel No.10 to make it more Blair like, as James reveals in his column this week. But he made no attempt to disguise the fact that he thinks structures are no substitute for the ‘guy’ at the top being on the case 24/7 when looking to deliver change:
‘It works when you have the clearest possible sense of priorities and what you want to achieve … you’ve got to have the Prime Minister’s authority behind this all the time.
‘My view is, which is based on my practical experience, is that you need a certain capability at the centre for the Prime Minister to independently know what’s going on and to be able drive through change. Because what you find in government is that some departments get it and really move to make the changes that are necessary … and some frankly are a little more sleepy.’
He admitted Cameron’s new ten task forces to deliver policy have their place, but only if the Prime Minister is driving the agenda:
‘I’m not against ministerial task forces and so on – all of that has its place.
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