Make Bureaucracy Great Again

Is Britain broken beyond repair? Politicians on all sides complain they can't get anything done. 40% of the public want to let Britain's institutions burn. Historically, however, we were a famously well-run country. What went wrong?Stephen Webb, a former senior civil servant, uses his inside knowledge to explain the causes of our malaise, and show how decades of reforms have actually made things worse. Comparing the failures of the present with historical instances of success, he rejects both calls for imposing ever more elaborate and legalistic procedures, and also the growing demands to burn the system down. Webb argues instead for restoring the traditional Westminster system of a powerful government in a strong Parliament. This means radical surgery: restoring to ministers and parliament powers they have given away; a smaller, more elite civil service with freedom to make decisions; and most of all, a ruthless cull of safeguards, procedures, ethical controls and oversight mechanisms.This tough-minded call for drastic reform should be read by anyone, from government ministers to frustrated voters, who wants to understand how we can allow governments to govern again.