Government Doesn't Trust Government

One of the consequences of the economic downturn is that government has lost faith in itself.  It no longer appears to believe that the levers of the state can be used to deliver the policy outcomes it seeks and instead departments are busy looking after themselves.

This Coalition was certainly very clear when it came to office that the state had become too powerful and that government will be less active than it once was, especially under Labour.  However, one of the myths of the Thatcher era was that she reduced the role of the state - she centralised decision making to an unprecedented degree (if you don't believe this then just read Simon Jenkins' book, Accountable to None).