Time to pull the plug?

As the Financial Times reports, the much vaunted Connecting for Health computer system that the Government has claimed will help to improve the NHS has run into trouble.

As it explains: "Progress on the £12bn computer programme designed to give doctors instant access to patients’ records across the country has virtually ground to a halt, raising questions about whether the world’s biggest civil information technology project will ever be finished.

"In May this year, the National Audit Office said the project was running at least four years late but still appeared “feasible”."

"Feasible?" "The world's biggest civil information technology project"!

Jesus! If this incompetent Labour lot can cock up this then imagine what will happen if they ever get a chance to try to install a national ID card system.

I wouldn't trust this band of event organisers to arrange a social gathering in a beer-making establishment let alone get their hands on my biometric measurements.

It's time to pull the plug on these Labour incompetents!

Buddy, can you spare a rouble?

Ruth Lea writing on Centre Right asks the question: "Does the Prime Minister really think he can spend his way out of recession?"

"....when it comes to the management of the domestic economy, our Prime Minister has been no hero. He has been wilfully spend-thrift with the nation’s finances. Public borrowing may be as high as £65bn this financial year (compared with the budget forecast of £43bn) and up to £100bn next year (compared with a forecast of £38bn). These are huge sums and we can only hope that overseas investors are still prepared to buy British Government debt in large tranches. Mr Brown really should not push ahead and try to spend his way out of recession. It would be highly costly and irresponsible. And hasn’t he wasted enough money already?"

Same Old Labour, same old boom and bust.

Oleg, Peter, Nat, George and I are just good friends - honest!

I am sorry to disappoint you all but there is no truth in the stories circulating in the media that I have ever had relations with Oleg, Peter, Nat or George.

I have never been to Corfu and I have never been on a yacht owned by a Russian and I have never solicited a donation to any political party.

Why don't you believe me? (See photo.)

George Galloway says something sensible!

"No more loathsome piece of flotsam has floated to the surface of Scottish New Labour than the lumpen piece of wood that is Tom Harris.”

Not often I can say that "Gorgeous George" has got it spot on this time!

Now for the "Caravan Park" revolution?

Forget about Peter Mandelson's appointment in Gordon Brown's last (and probably his only?) Cabinet re-shuffle. The most radical move that has happened is that Margaret Beckett has been appointed as Housing Minister.

Obviously, this means he recognises that his much vaunted plan to build 3 million new 'eco-friendly' homes was never going to work. So, he is relying on Margaret to come up with a new approach. My guess is that this will involve a vast expansion of caravan parks!

Think about it: they are mobile; they use relatively little energy; they don't need any expensive infrastructure connection costs; people will be able to get back to nature and enjoy living in these "new" communities; and maintenance costs are low. They will be able to move on easily (no mortgage needed!) when they need to find new employment.

I don't know about you but I'm going to be buying caravan manufacturers shares for some time. (Of course, in a few years time I will probably be investing heavily in those banks that will then be offering sub-prime mortgages to all those people who have got fed up living in all the "trailer parks" that Margaret will have created!

Update: The ever indispensible Jim Pickard has noted that the blessed Margaret is keeping her powder dry on the question of the 3 million target for additional eco-friendly homes. I am still convinced that she will eventually be strongly promoting trailer parks to house all the new mobile workforce which will be required to lag the roofs of those people who have managed to hang on to their homes. It is also interesting to note that Australia has already kicked off the trend as their own housing slump begins.