In recent weeks, we have seen students locally and nationally getting their results in extraordinary circumstances having been unable to sit exams.
The government had plenty of time to plan for this, and was warned by the Education Select Committee, in advance, of the problems facing them.
Instead, no planning was done and students were landed with results by algorithm.
Thankfully we have seen a U-turn on the issue of teacher assessment. But even then, many pupils are unhappy with their results as they feel they could have done better in exams and in many cases have lost university and placements due to the original decision by ministers followed by their panic.
We have seen several examples of government U-turns recently often due to poor planning and delivery. My big concern is that yet another is coming down the track with the Energy Saving and Insulation Initiatives that have been advertised as starting from September.
I have had several constituents contact me already asking for clarity as they have been asking firms for quotes in advance of the voucher scheme.
Firms are named on the site despite having not taken part in such government schemes in years and some have also told constituents they are unwilling to take part due to complexity.
Constituents are already contacting me regarding the confused messaging from the government and the lack of coherent information.
This is looking increasingly like a poorly thought through scheme, that in the end may only end up benefiting very few people. I hope to be proved wrong.
It could be argued that the prime minister’s great strength is his readiness to acknowledge when things have gone wrong and to change course.
On the other hand, the frequency with which that is happening looks more and more like incoherence and a lack of planning.
Boris Johnson is a great admirer of Churchill. But Churchill always had people in government with him – particularly in the case of the national government during the war – who were supremely adept at planning and organising.
He and they would never have allowed such a shambles.
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