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Sunday 19 December 2021

Frost



All part of the Great Game of course, but Lord Frost's resignation letter is of some interest. For example.

Brexit is now secure. The challenge for the Government now is to deliver on the opportunities it gives us. You know my concerns about the current direction of travel. I hope we will move as fast as possible to where we need to get to: a lightly regulated, low tax, entrepreneurial economy, at the cutting edge of modern science and economic change. Three hundred years of history show that countries which take that route grow and prosper, and I am confident we will too.

Boris has shown no interest whatever in a lightly regulated, low tax, entrepreneurial economy. It is incompatible with Net Zero but Boris seems completely sold on that policy. It has him by the balls we might say.

We also need to learn to live with Covid and I know that is your instinct too. You took a brave decision in July, against considerable opposition, to open up the country again. Sadly it did not prove to be irreversible, as I wished, and believe you did too. I hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere.

To my mind there have been indications of some resistance to extreme measures related to Covid. Things could have been worse, but that is always the case whatever we do. Things could have been better and there is still time for some improvement before Christmas. Sack Sage would be a fine Christmas present for example.

7 comments:

DiscoveredJoys said...

I always thought that Frost understood the real world (and wished that Boris did too).

My suggestion re SAGE is to make their advice a resignation issue (contrary to the normal Civil Service Teflon approach). So... if they predict 5,000 people will die each weak of COVID and 'only' 1,000 die then sack them and recruit other experts. If we did that then their replacement's advice might be more measured.

James Higham said...

Adding SAGE to the list of sackings would be even better.

A K Haart said...

DJ - that's how I saw Frost. It implies that Boris doesn't understand the real world or too many people around him don't understand it or understanding it doesn't suit their ambitions.

Yes, there should be some penalty for poor advice given by experts, although some seem to be saying that they give advice about consequences not advice about the probability of those consequences.

A K Haart said...

James - yes, just get rid of them and recruit a group with more varied outlooks.

Bill Sticker said...

Given that these 'experts' are calling for Christmas lockdowns to 'stop Omicron', this seems like an act of spite on SAGE's part against the greater population. It seems all of them are dazzled by the data models and blind to the real data from South Africa. Some experts, eh?

Sam Vega said...

Frost inserted the stiletto, but it would have been better if he could have put the boot in too. A rich paragraph on COP26 and Boris's green lunacy would have improved things greatly. Perhaps Frost is hoping for another job somewhere, and didn't want to spoil his prospects. It's amazing how daintily the powerful have to tread.

A K Haart said...

Bill - they appear to link their status with pessimistic, often ridiculously pessimistic scenarios. As if optimism is seen as beneath them.

Sam - it's as if he wanted to write a paragraph on green lunacy but career caution held him back. It would be political suicide, the usual suspects would make sure of that.