4 December

This is the sort of rank populism that plays well in our times. ‘Get rid of red tape!’ The problem with that idea is that the people who say it have no idea how things get practically done. ‘Bureaucracy’ is just the detailed work of connecting ideas with reality. Somebody has to implement things. That’s what all the files are for. The more outrageously stupid a political idea is, the more bureaucracy you will need to try to make it work. The most stupid politicians of all, the anti-red tape crowd, are hilariously the greatest generators of red tape. This always was Sir Humphrey‘s point.