The Harold Wilson way of doing things

The Guardian doesn't like the Government’s proposals on social care:

"Now is the time for bold reform," the government's white paper on social care declared yesterday. And what does that reform consist of? "At the start of the next parliament we will establish a commission to help reach a consensus." Not so bold, then, after all.

Nor does The Indy:

Yesterday's White Paper is welcome for one reason and one reason alone: it puts the argument about social care squarely on to the electoral agenda. While proposing a National Care Service that, like the NHS, would be free at the point of need, however, the Government has once again sought to duck the funding issue.

Listen up, folks.  It’s the classic Harold Wilson trick.  There was nothing he would like more than to toss difficult issues into the long grass by publishing a White Paper or by appointing a commission or two.

Oh, and he did win four elections.

That’s politics, stupid.