Great talk. Not sure if the 3 questions at a time format worked so well- tended to allow the panel to go on monologues vs addressing particular topics.
I don't mind it. Obviously the fact that someone raises their hand & gets picked by the moderator is no guarantee that their question will be a particularly good one. This system allows the panelists to focus on the areas where they think their responses might be most useful.
Pournelle's iron law of bureaucracy: In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals that the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.
🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 00:10 *🇬🇧 The session focuses on dissecting the operational issues within Britain's state government institutions, highlighting systemic failures.* 00:39 *🤔 Discussion on why Britain is perceived as 'not working' and the broad factors contributing to this perception, ranging from government roles to economic issues.* 01:44 *📘 Lord Adonis's background is highlighted, detailing his journey from academia and journalism to significant roles in government, emphasizing his involvement in educational reform.* 02:28 *📊 Introduction of Dominic Cummings, noting his influential roles in government and his impact on policy, particularly in education through the Academies program.* 03:09 *🏫 The narrative shifts to a detailed discussion on the reforms in England's education system, underlining the strategic enhancements made to the Academies and free schools programs.* 03:37 *🔄 Lord Adonis reflects on the persistent issues within Britain's infrastructure and public services, providing historical context to today’s problems.* 05:10 *⚙️ The session addresses the randomness in addressing the state's problems, influenced by a few central figures, which affects the prioritization of systemic fixes.* 07:16 *📚 Discussion on the centralization of the educational reform process and the critical decisions made to manage and implement changes at a national level.* 08:54 *🤹 Insights into the challenges faced by ministers in accurately diagnosing issues due to poor data quality and lack of ground-level engagement.* 10:15 *🏗️ Reflections on the historical effectiveness of focused national reform agendas, particularly in health and education, suggesting a need for similar concentration in housing and infrastructure.* 14:27 *🛣️ The conversation concludes on the capability of the British state to enact substantial infrastructural changes when decisively acted upon, drawing parallels with the successful construction of the national motorway system.* 22:38 *🗳️ Dominic Cummings criticizes MPs for lacking interest in effective governance, impacting the implementation of sound policies.* 23:06 *🏗️ Discusses the challenge of getting MPs to support local construction projects due to not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) attitudes.* 24:03 *🏫 Lord Adonis shares his strategy of involving local MPs and council leaders in visits to underperforming schools, often their first.* 25:08 *🎓 Highlighting the critical role proactive MPs can play in local educational reforms and infrastructure, like Simon Hughes in Southwark.* 26:49 *🔧 Discusses different management styles in government reform, contrasting Adonis’s avoidance of incompetence with Cummings's approach of removing ineffective personnel.* 27:43 *📜 Cummings argues that major reforms in planning and procurement require primary legislation, contradicting conventional Westminster wisdom.* 29:48 *⏩ Project Speed initiative is mentioned, aiming to expedite infrastructure projects, highlighting bureaucratic design that delays execution.* 32:23 *🚧 Discusses systemic inefficiencies and vested interests that hinder quick implementation of infrastructure projects in the UK.* 33:17 *🚂 Adonis emphasizes the importance of ministerial engagement and frustration with inefficient public services, particularly transportation.* 37:01 *🛤️ Critique of the hybrid Bill process in UK transport projects, noting its role in escalating costs and delays due to excessive local concessions.* 39:11 *🏛️ Cummings stresses the need for swift legislative action to enable substantial construction and planning reforms.* 44:28 *🌍 Discussion on the concurrent crises in Britain involving growth, public services, and international standing, exacerbated by Brexit and geopolitical tensions.* 45:51 *💡 Highlight on the migration of elite talent from public service to private sectors like tech and finance, negatively impacting the quality of public governance.* 46:58 *🕰️ Comparison of current bureaucratic inefficiencies with the more decisive and modern-seeming governance during the 1790s in response to the French Revolution.* 48:07 *🚀 Critique of pathological public institutions that hinder national capabilities, exemplified by the short-lived success of the Vaccine Task Force.* 49:57 *🏛️ Discussion on systemic challenges in the Civil Service, emphasizing the need for reform to allow expert-driven decision-making and streamlined operations.* 51:49 *🏢 Inquiry about the most impactful change to the Civil Service to boost British state capacity, highlighting the necessity of attracting and retaining skilled personnel.* 53:31 *🔄 Argument for a Civil Service reform modelled after Singapore’s system, advocating for open recruitment and integration of performance management with ministerial priorities.* 56:21 *⚖️ Debate on the balance between reforming existing systems versus creating alternative units to handle national projects more effectively, akin to SpaceX versus NASA.* 01:02:27 *🐟 Discussion on bizarre regulatory solutions like playing disco music to deter fish, illustrating regulatory overreach affecting critical infrastructure projects like nuclear power plants.* 01:05:37 *🏡 Highlight on how environmental and wildlife protection laws complicate housing development and infrastructure projects, emphasizing the need for a balance between environmental protection and national development priorities.* Made with HARPA AI
This UK will end up like some soviet era country because there are far to many in the civil service that still has a British empire mindset and thinks everything is just going to continue failing along and dont think for a moment that the majority would fight and die for it because it isnt worth dying for and especially for those in london
All hot air. After all the Studies, Committees, Meetings, Briefings and massive increase of costs, Government departments make decisions and the wheels eventually start to turn the market, society and requirements will have already changed. Thousands of miles of Railways and Canals have been lost over successive Governments Most Hospitals are not fit for purpose as is much of the Housing stock. The cost of Energy in the UK is one of the most expensive in the world yet our new Government is funding The Crown Estate to the tune of £8.5 Billion so that the UK can be "Energy Independent" after selling the rights to Foreign Companies and Hedge Funds .
Will there ever be a time the UK state is not in "crisis" in one or more it's competencies? Andrew Adonis seemed to think it was destined to be this way forevermore.
If the Conservatives want to have people who are interested in governing then they should allow the local constituency party to pick the candidates and not Party HQ. Cameron should be pilloried for what he did to the Party.
It' s quite simple stop trying to run every aspect of people's lives. Do less get out of the way and only do what is 100 % required. Time for the State to fade into the background.
Yes, stand out the away and allow Muslims to build more mosques and gradually saturate the towns where their demographic dominates. Freeeeeeeeeeeeedom.
It's easy to get rid of bad people in government. They can resign or be charged with Misconduct In Public Office for willfully not doing their job, that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
An interesting point that seems to reflect the perspective of Rees-Mogg (who achieved nothing) and was not at all mentioned by the people on the panel in this video.
