I knew roughly what Resource Accounting and Budgeting was all about, but I never imagined they could invent a system that would require NHS trusts to pay back any overspend twice. Especially as, at the same time, the introduction of payment-by-results means that their income scales directly with their output. So, they can’t reduce the…
Read More Paying the cost to be the boss (of the civil service)Did I say I loved the Financial Times? When everyone else was frontpaging with Princess Diana, the paper had the following stories on the front: the BAE investigation kibosh (this was the lead), Blair grilled by the rozzers (number two, opposite the lead and separated by a photo of the man), then the OPEC meeting…
Read More Say yes and let’s enjoy the…Via Pat Lang’s, the American Enterprise Institute’s plan for yet another atttempt to secure Baghdad. You won’t be very surprised to learn that neither Lang, nor I, think very much of it. Peter Kagan’s strategy – a PowerPoint presentation, natch – is risible. The first and most basic fault is the frantic insistence on victory,…
Read More The generals bow to the government: they’re tired of the truthSo what is in the Memorandum of Understanding old Virus Drayson signed with the Pentagon and Lockheed-Martin? As far as I know, he says it guarantees that no USAF personnel would be necessary in the chain of command. This says very little in and of itself. No US personnel are necessary in the chain of…
Read More Operational sovereigntyWell, where to start with my utter rage at the kiboshed Al-Yamamah investigation? It’s a total map of state direness, New Labour subtype: we have hypocrisy, we have a good day to bury bad news, we have cash, we have Lord Goldsmith, the professional get out of jail card himself. Obviously, this being a blog,…
Read More You’ve been bought and paid, you’re a whore and a slaveYou want disturbing search requests? We got’em. Two days ago, someone searched Indian Google for “security systems for British crown jewels” and landed here. Now, I think there’s a movie in that. They are to be found somewhere on VSNL’s network in India: traceroute.
Read More Classic DSR!Whilst we’re on the subject of dubious Anglo-American diplomacy, it looks like nothing at all has been done about the F-35 intellectual property question. The HOC Defence committee says, essentially, that the supposed agreement on this is worthless and urgent steps should be taken to prepare a plan B. There is still no word on…
Read More Here we go againYou may recall that we’ve followed the career of the Iraqi Special Forces, née Ministry of the Interior Commandos, née 36th ICDC Battalion in some detail. This force is one of the few reasonably capable Iraqi units, made up of a mix of exiles and SCIRI Badr Corps men. Kazimi has a mildly hagiographic post…
Read More The Colonel of the 36thGet your idle legs over to the Weblog Awards and vote for Fistful. Exercise your democratic rights here. We’re losing to some random bunch of Dutchmen, but you can help us finish ahead of the demented thrappers of Brussels Journal. As usual with blog awards, it’s stuffed with the overrated and the clichéd. There was…
Read More For Dawkins’ sake…Within months of the invasion of Iraq, Saudi Arabian sources began hinting at a contingency plan to obtain nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Now, some more. I’m not sure whether to take The Business seriously, but they seem to have been briefed in some detail: Western and Middle Eastern sources have told this magazine that, if…
Read More Saudi Nuclear Watch