Home Office Fun

Two stories from today's Metro remind us that the country is run by idiots.

Page 1: Making meow meow, BZP and spice illegal will not stop people from trying them but will put them at risk from dealers who mix them with dangerous cutting agents, according to a report from the UK Drug Policy Commission.

In 2008 and 2009, when the now-banned meow meow was growing in popularity, cocaine-related deaths dropped by 28 per cent. The relaxation and subsequent re-introduction of controls on cannabis use also had no impact on the general decline in the drug’s use, the report claims...

However, the Home Office said it had no plans to change drug law. "We believe the Misuse of Drugs Act works and continues to protect the public from the serious harms caused by illicit drug use," it added.

Page 2: The article is a nice bit of shroud waving by The Police Federation. Yes of course the police force could be put to better use or cut costs a bit, that's not the point; the relevant bit is right at the end:

A Home Office spokesman said: "As a service spending £14 billion a year of public money, the police can and must make their fair share of the savings."

Yup, that £14 billion is about one per cent of GDP, or about two per cent of total UK government spending (prisons is another £4 billion or so on top of that). Seeing as maintaining law and order is the corest of the core functions of state and only makes up two per cent of total spending anyway, I don't think this is the right place to start if you're trying to save money.

Would it not make more sense to look at the £14 billion we send to the EU each year, or the £10 billion which the Department of (for?) Work & Pensions spends on administration costs each year?