"Systematically flawed"

The East Coast train line, the cervical cancer screening process and now the supervision of offenders on probation: all public services outsourced to private companies but now brought back under control of central government. At what point is the concept of privatisation sufficiently discredited as to be abandoned?

This latest example is particularly damning. Probation unions, professionals and experts in the field all counselled against the move to part-privatisation, made in 2014, but Chris Grayling - for it was he, of course - decided not to heed the warnings and not only arrogantly and pig-headedly pushed ahead but did so without any trial period or pilot scheme. Needless to say, those whose views were dismissed or ignored have proven to be entirely vindicated - though their relief at renationalisation is tempered by the fact that it will take years for the probation service to recover.

Privatisation is so often trumpeted as both more efficient and more cost-effective than state control, so it should be the source of considerable embarrassment to the Tories that not only did the community rehabilitation companies perform far worse than the National Probation Service in meeting their targets, but the National Audit Office has revealed that the botched scheme cost the taxpayer almost £500 million.

Meanwhile, anyone who dares to suggest that Grayling is a talentless imbecile is clearly wide of the mark. He has two very particular talents: cocking up and squandering our money.