Is this government full of amateurs?

Labour's hard landing has revealed a cabinet struggling with the basics

- Dylan Jones

Towards the end of 1989, the Stone Roses were on the cusp of being the biggest band in Britain. Having just played a massive show at Alexandra Palace, they were asked to perform their song Made of Stone live on a BBC culture and arts programme called The Late Show. This was going to be their national TV debut and expectations were huge. But on the night in question, after only a minute, an internal power cut in the studio interrupted their performance, causing the band to stop and look at the panic-stricken BBC technicians with collective Mancunian indignation. Ian Brown, the singer, snorting with derision, said, without needing any amplification: “We’re wasting our time, lads. Amateurs!”

It’s a feeling many of us have had recently. Spend any time in the bars and restaurants of Westminster, hang out in the Lobby, or convene with anyone involved in the business of business, and you’ll hear a familiar refrain: “This Government don’t know what they’re doing.” Or, to quote a friend of mine who runs a medium-sized PR company in London, and who is already becoming extremely vocal about the effect the National Insurance hike is going to have on his business, “They’re wet behind the ears. They make great play of supporting the working man, but the working man they’re imagining is either dressed in a blue collar or working for the state. They’ve obviously never done a day’s work in their life.”

Cavalier approach