John Kay

There are elements of classical tragedy in the rise and fall of Gordon Brown. A brooding, private intellectual is allied with a charismatic leader. The pair sweep triumphantly to power. But the intellectual nurses a grievance, over the public success of his colleagues. This festering resentment contributes to the destruction of both men. Eventually toppling his rival, our tragic hero holds the kingship for a brief, unhappy period.

Britain is a small island, dependent on frequent and reliable air travel. From the distribution of its population, its biggest airport would ideally be north-west of London.

Sophistication of method is used to torture data to reveal conclusions that do not obviously follow from them, but which fit either the researchers’ preconceptions or the sponsor’s policy objectives, or both.

The interpretation of fairness is culturally specific but rarely does it correspond to measures of income inequality. Fairness is a perception, not a Gini coefficient.

Good quangos have specific technical expertise and their purpose is to take issues out of politics. Bad quangos have no distinctive skills and are designed to put issues into politics.

A business secretary should focus on issues that enable business to improve how it serves the public. He should not act as a super lobbyist collating the suggestions of the chief executives and public relations consultants constantly banging on his door.

Anonymity is often the most effective means of telling truth to power: and sometimes the only one.

Government spin is especially debilitating because government is a monopoly supplier of much of the information that an informed democracy requires.

We do need to increase the scope for structured and independent inquiry outside government, but with the kind of authority that only official status can confer.

Britain cannot aspire to continental European levels of public services with lower tax rates. Any British government has to confront that simple fact.