{"id":91117,"date":"2026-03-25T07:25:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=91117"},"modified":"2026-03-25T07:25:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:25:54","slug":"the-job-of-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/03\/25\/the-job-of-government\/","title":{"rendered":"The job of government"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most honest line that I read in the media yesterday was this, from the New York Times:<\/a><\/p>\n

Regardless of your partisan lean, it\u2019s safe to say that these are scary times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The best political news that I read came from Germany, where Politico reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump for going to war with Iran, calling the conflict a violation of international law and warning of a transatlantic rupture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The trouble is, the German President has no power, and Mark Rutte, the right-wing former Dutch Prime Minister who heads NATO, expressed his support for Trump and his war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The award for the most economically inept performance of the day was shared by Rachael Reeves and Nigel Farage.<\/p>\n

In the face of growing fear over energy costs, Rachael Reeves announced<\/a> that she is doing very little and nothing as yet. The inference is obvious. Dealing with a crisis is way above her pay grade.<\/p>\n

Farage, meanwhile, according to the FT<\/a>:<\/p>\n

abandoned plans for a Reform UK government to part-nationalise Britain\u2019s utilities as the party adjusts to the country\u2019s stretched public finances, although it is still considering using \u201cstrategic stakes\u201d to fix broken markets.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the process, he revealed that he has as limited an understanding of government finances as do all the other leading political parties, leaving just the Greens with some comprehension of this issue in England.<\/p>\n

And war continued in the Middle East, with no one knowing why, or what is truly happening, or where we are headed as a result.<\/p>\n

In addition, Israel continued its illegal actions in Gaza and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

And here in the UK, people continue to be treated in hospital corridors because our government does not care enough to create the money required to resolve the problems in our NHS.<\/p>\n

In other words, we suffered another day of callous, indifferent, incompetent neoliberal government where those supposedly in charge only succeeded in proving just how useless they are at the jobs that they hold.<\/p>\n

The job of government is to protect people. That's it. At the bottom line, it has no other purpose. Our problem is that right now those who wish to govern appear to have completely forgotten that fact. No wonder these are scary times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most honest line that I read in the media yesterday was this, from the New York Times: Regardless of your partisan lean, it\u2019s safe
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