The Tories are throwing away any right to claim that they are the careful custodians of the public’s money
All governments foul up, but each fouls up in its own special way. The inglorious history of their follies was well told in The Blunders of Our Governments, the bumper compendium of the worst fiascos of recent decades written by Ivor Crewe and Anthony King. It is an account that has the reader crying with laughter at the sheer stupidity of so many bad decisions before crying out with horror at the cost. Monumental fiascos perpetrated by the Tories include the ERM debacle, the poll tax and the personal pensions scandal. The Labour column of the balance sheet of shame includes the Millennium Dome and the magnet for fraudsters created by individual learning accounts. Under governments of many different complexions, we have seen a sorry succession of ignorant and/or vainglorious ministers squandering billions of pounds and handing the bill for their failures to the taxpayer.
It is fair to say that this is not a uniquely British vice. Witness the terrible mess the EU has got into over vaccinations against Covid. Others performing woefully doesn’t mean we should shrug and tolerate it when things go grossly wrong on this side of the Channel.
