Let’s apply the Ansbacher test

IT WOULD take the wisdom of Solomon to adjudicate on the competing claims of towns for civil service decentralisation. Every town says it ‘deserves’ consideration, but how can there be an objective measure?

The most important characteristics of any civil service department are its civic mindedness and integrity. So the jobs should go to towns that can be shown to have such an honest culture. All towns could be graded according to the percentage of bogus offshore accounts per inhabitant. What better way to reward the more honest ones?

Tim O'Halloran,