The PM needs to focus on realistic goals
Reboot is the word of the moment. It is what Boris Johnson is supposed to do to his Downing Street operation in the aftermath of the ejection of Dominic Cummings and his sidekick Lee Cain. But organisational structures, while important to the dispensing of good, clear and coherent decision-making, are not the most important aspects of a government.
It is judged not by who pulls the levers of power but what they produce at the other end. Most people will never know the identities of the No 10 director of communications or chief of staff, and nor should they. Backroom functionaries are precisely that. But what voters will notice are the policies emerging from the machinery of government. When it comes to rebooting, Mr Johnson needs to focus his attention less on process and more on outcomes. It is, therefore, surprising to discover that the first big policy push of the relaunch is linked to the environment and climate change, issues known to be of great interest to Carrie Symonds, the Prime Minister’s fiancée. He was expected to make a major announcement this week, however his period of self isolation is likely to complicate matters further.
Mr Johnson has been firm in his belief in the power of green investment to lead the postpandemic economic recovery. But this needs to be kept within the bounds of practicality. Among a raft of proposed initiatives, the Prime Minister is set to announce that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK within 10 years. A prohibition had initially been set for 2040, before being brought forward to 2035. The latest deadline is even more unrealistic and there seems no obvious point to it other than to burnish Mr Johnson’s eco-credentials.
It will place massive pressure on the car industry, which is already reeling from the economic slowdown. Moreover, the infrastructure for electric vehicles, which appear to be the Government’s preferred future, remains rudimentary, with just 20,000 charging points – even if the number is growing rapidly. In any case, who is to say the non-carbon future for cars is, or should be, electric? Hydrogen-based technology would be more environmentally friendly and can use the existing petrol-delivery systems.
A reboot may well be in order, but its purpose must be to focus the Government’s efforts on realistic and achievable policies.