Reasons for government not to do things

Here’s an arm, the list is as long as that and longer. But a crucial component of that list is that government isn’t very good at doing things. As this example shows:

A false claim to the NHS is the only way to avoid a fine

Filling out a form about free NHS prescriptions the wrong way can lead to a fine. As has in fact happened here. It is also not possible to fill out the form correctly:

You are the latest of a number of readers to have fallen victim to indefensible bureaucratic turpitude. Six years after universal credit was introduced, there is still no corresponding box on many NHS forms. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website – responsible for verifying eligibility for free NHS treatment – instructs dental and pharmacy staff to ensure that universal-credit claimants tick the allowance box until the form is updated. Patients who are not informed or, like you, are unwilling to sign a false claim, face fines of up to £100 plus the treatment or prescription charge. Another £50 is added if they don’t pay within 28 days, hence your latest bill.

This is the health care system that is the very Wonder of the World. It cannot furnish the correct box to tick given a six year head start.

This is the point at which we’re all supposed to invoke Kafka but there is no malice here. Just the incompetence of any large bureaucratic machine. Which is, of course, why we shouldn’t use large bureaucratic machines to run our lives.

65 million people simply cannot be run from the centre. Therefore we should not be trying, should we?