Britain's coalition government is setting a record in policy U-turns and earlier this week actually announced two more on the same day, although they could not have been more different in character and importance. The decision of the Justice Minister, Kenneth Clarke to scale down significantly plans for secret trials in order to prevent evidence of potential security importance from being given in open court. The plans were made in a hurry last Autumn and drew a barrage of criticism. Although Mr Clarke has not met all the criticism, he has proposed that closed courts will be used only for cases concerning national security and it will be the responsibility of a judge, not a minister, to determine what evidence should be heard in secret.
The second U-turn was almost pathetically farcical. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced a change of mind about the increased VAT rate on hot Cornish pasties which he proposed in his Budget statement in March.
He also was strongly criticised, in this case for the complexity of the necessary legislation, which has to distinguish between hot-from-the-oven and merely kept-warn-in-a-cabinet pasties. The cost to the Exchequer is said to be about 40 million pounds but no calculation has yet been given of the cost to the reputation of the Chancellor and the dignity of his Office.
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