The HIPs saga rumbles on. The latest is the news that the government may well be getting sued over the whole matter. That is to say, we are going to have pay for their incompetence if legal action goes ahead - because there is no chance they would win! Since the scheme was "delayed" last month to start on 1st August and is now to only include houses with four or more bedrooms, companies have been laying off trained inspectors as they are no longer needed - many firms have even gone out of business. So instead of not having enough inspectors as was the case last month, we now have a load of inspectors with a pointless, unwanted skill. Incredibly, the government have got themselves in to a situation where they have a scheme that they can not implement properly, is not wanted by the industry or even needed, has been watered down so much that it meaningless yet they have to go ahead with it or they will face a multi-billion pound claim! So expect confirmation from Ruth Kelly in the coming days. How on earth have they managed this?
The media have been laying in to Ruth Kelly over all this; but the real culprit is team Brown, in particular Mrs Balls, Yvette Cooper. She has virtually forced this scheme through despite The Secretary of State having cold feet. It just so happens that Cooper is also married to Ed Balls - best buddy of (almost) PM Gordon Brown. So while Ms Kelly is getting up in the Commons and going on TV to defend all this, making a fool of herself, it will be Cooper who gets the promotion in to the cabinet next month. Promoted for one of the biggest policy cock ups in the past few years. Welcome to Brown's Britain where the cronies get the top jobs, regardless.