More bloody incompetence

Two points on the elephantine scamblings of the Home Secretary. The first is to re-iterate that it should not be the primary impulse of Government to introduce new legislation. The current problems over non-deported criminals are the result of a failure to implement existing legislation, not an indication of its inadequacy.

This is a systemic failing of the Blair Government. There are now some five or sx different Acts under which you could be prosecuted for carrying a knife. There is a new Criminal Justice Act every year. Unfortunately they think that it is more important to acquire a positive headline ("Government to act on...") than it is to enforce the existing law.

The second is to note, via Iain Dale and UKIP, that the proposal to make deportation automatic for foreign nationals is in flagrant contravention of an EU directive, as well as arguably in contravention of the Human Rights Act. I hold no brief for wither of these institutions, but you would think that a Government that has placed such store by them should continue to be so ignorant of what they contain.

It is further evidence of the sheer, exhausting and infuriating extent of this Government's managerial incompetence. In essence, "New Labour" promised that they had abandoned ideology and would instead focus on good governance, "what matters is what works" and all that jazz. Yet it would be hard to call to mind a Government that was less competent in its administration. Its few successes have been the result of its abandonment of a governing role (over interest rates for example), and everywhere it has sought to apply hands-on management, most notably the NHS, grass never grows again.