There are, as all of us with ageing body parts know, times when things go wrong. There are those who suggest that if only we got all the clever people into government and had them handle it there would be fewer of those things that go wrong.

They could be right of course:

A ship due to be delivered to Scotland’s state-controlled ferry operator will arrive months late, adding to a capacity crisis that threatens to cut off island communities.

The MV Isle of Islay had been scheduled to arrive with CalMac in mid-October but will now be delivered at the end of the year amid a steel and labour shortage at the Turkish shipyard where it is being built.

Contracting out to the private sector. Tsk, months late, the winter sailing schedule will be disrupted. Obviously, we should have a mission specific plan with strict conditionality in order to remedy matters. In fact everything should be run that way because, clearly, that private sector just cannot cope:

The development comes as a fresh blow to the SNP as two other vessels being produced by a nationalised Scottish shipyard run six years behind schedule and £250m over budget.

Ah, you mean that direct government involvement is worse? Possibly 24 times worse, the difference between 3 months and 6 years late?

Well, we do live in a world of the second best, the task being to find the least bad method, the least bad solution. The least bad apparently not being mission specific government plans with strict conditionality.

Odd that the idea’s currently so popular really.

Tim Worstall