We will pay a heavy price for robbing agencies of independence

IN Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, the Emperor of Japan managed to produce the most streamlined government in the world.

He had only two ministers — Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, and Pooh-Bah, the Lord High Everything Else. There are other lords in the operetta, of course — Pish-Tush and Pitti-Sing come to mind — but they don’t actually do anything. They’re just there, mainly to join in the chorus.

So why don’t we merge all the existing agencies that annoy the state from time to time into one big Pooh-Bah agency? We could let it talk a lot, allow it to sound self-important, and never have to listen to it at all. The real work would be done by the Lord High Executioner, also known as the Department of Finance.