Mark Pack

Toot toot! Hold tight! Another one coming on board the quango express.

It’s another new quango promised by the Conservatives with, as the Telegraph has reported,

Nick Herbert, shadow minister for farming and environment, promising a farmers’ conference that a future Conservative government will implement the Competition Commission’s recommendation to create an ombudsman to rule on disputes between supermarkets and their suppliers. That is one more quango to add to the already long list: perhaps they should call it Offtrolley.

Ah, you say. But that’s an ok quango. Surely there’s room for a bit of flexibility?

Only problem is, it’s an awful lot of flexibility, because this latest one has to be added to the 18 new quangos already promised by the Conservatives (and added up by Paul Staines).

Not to mention the dropping of the Conservative pledge to axe all the Regional Development Agency quangos.

But surely that nice Mr Philip Hammond can explain all? Alas no, he had rather a TV meltdown when pressed on quite what was going on the supposed bonfire of the quangos last year.