Government must shape up, and fast

The government has had a dreadful few weeks, lurching from one mess to another. It was woefully under-prepared for the introduction of the household charge, only waking up to the fact of mass non-cooperation as the clock ticked down towards the payment deadline of March 31.

Its public statements on the matter varied from a curious sort of political passive-aggressiveness to half-hearted attempts to strong-arm householders into paying. Neither was convincing, nor effective. ...