Outsourcing to arms-length groups and insufficient departmental reviews have created a democratic deficit.
Our focus groups in Wakefield are a wake-up call for the Government: responsible adults neither want nor need nannying.
As one Cabinet Minister put it to me recently, the Treasury has never been interested in growth, just in collecting taxes.
The Government seems to have no plan to communicate as cost of living woes multiply. Here’s a first stab at one.
The usual justifications for state interference in the private sector don’t apply in this unusual sector.
Obesity is a complex problem, and squeezing low-income households with mandatory price hikes won’t solve it.
Critics have a point when they note that, so far, Ministers’ rhetoric has been appreciably more ambitious than its actions.
Having entered Parliament from business, I know first-hand that prosperity is not created by government.
Now that we are hopefully returning to something approaching normality, we must focus back on the core issue of driving growth and investment.
Businesses and producers should not be punished as a result of a hasty and ill-thought-out campaign to tackle childhood obesity.
Upper class professionals are imposing their preference for formal settings – bringing the trade-off of higher prices and fewer affordable providers.
Changes are necessary, but they need to be based on evidence and evidence alone.
The good news is that if we can break out of our recent rut, the opportunities for post-Brexit Britain to cut red tape should be huge.
Re-shoring energy production and re-opening quarries and mines can offer national prosperity, strategic security, and meaningful work.
It is not their job to line the pockets of shareholders at the cost of undermining a vital national asset.