It is a problem that the way you get something done is to set up a separate process within Number 10, rather than it being done by the department that’s supposed to do it, or in the way that the system is theoretically supposed to run. We did a last minute deal in the autumn of 2020 with the Treasury for a multi-year settlement for the MoD because it was in such a crisis, and that became the platform for writing the rest. The first being the Pitt/Castlereagh era where you have a six-fold increase in size of the state; the introduction of income tax as a wartime measure; a huge increase in size of the Army; the union of Britain and Ireland; state formation.
Author: February 11, 2026
Published at: 2026-02-11 00:00:00
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