We'll keep the Red flag flying high!

So, in this NewLabour best of all possible worlds, where the power baton is passed on without a moment’s bitterness, all is well in just about all the nooks and crannies of this, our own ‘Sceptred Isles’!

Well, not quite! Take the statement by Home Secretary DOCTOR John Reid, made just after he inherited the job from the last clown who did it, when asked whether he could guarantee that all 1,023 would be found, Mr Reid said he regarded it as "my highest priority". Well, not quite!

The enabling software for I.D. and Bio-metric identity passports, which was supposed to be with us yesterday, was as usual, dependent upon promises made by companies desperate to get the work! The history of doomed I.T. projects is long and disturbingly-well celebrated, but still the Government queues to spend our money! When a six-year-old can’t get a passport because HE’S TOO PALE, what hope is there for the rest of us? Not a lot! When our borders are defended by people such as this, what hope is there for those already inside? Not a lot!

The ‘man who would be king’ tells us that he wanted to be in politics to ‘make a difference! Well, he’s kept his promises! The rest of us, strapped and wrapped as we undoubtedly are, have to live with the results! Can we reply positively to the query “Is all well in this Sceptred isle? Do we feel any better? Well, not quite!

Comments

[Peter]

I think Blair will feel that his legacy will be quite safe when David Cameron becomes PM after the next election. Cameron is Blair's natural successor in so many ways.

Gordon Brown will be PM until the next election, which will be delayed to the last possible minute (May 2010) in the face of a consistent Tory lead in the opinion polls, just as Major hung on to the last in 1997. He will resign after the election defeat.

[David Vance]

Peter,

I think you are most likely right. Blair was appalling, Cameron IS appalling - plus ca change.

[Richard Carey]

Hmm,

we need to bear in mind the landslide the Tories would need to win. Much as Cameron appeals to the London media, the Tories are not making much headway outside the South East. At this remove, and a lot can happen in the interim, I'd say Labour will be back in next time whoever's leading them.

[Mike]

Peter

You are absolutely right about the govt and IT projects. I started my IT career in the civil service before being privatised to a large IT outsourcing company.

When I was a civil servant, I invested a lot of my own time and money to get my IT qualifications. However, most of the civil service IT "managers" know little or nothing about IT and just have their positions because they have been in the civil service a long time.

While I was with the outsourcing comapny, they were awarded 3 MAJOR govt contracts. They were jumping for joy as they knew that, even if they did a cheap and crap job (which they did), they would still get a potload of taxpayers money from the govt.

This has been repeated with many govt projects and various outsourcing companies.

Unless the govt employs proper IT professionals to assess the performance of these companies and ensures that strict financial penalties are applied for failure to deliver - many millions of taxpayers pounds will continue to be literally thrown away.