Alas Vine & Hitchens The Hopeless Home Office and A Cosmic Car Crash
18 snips
Oct 29, 2025 This week, the hosts dive into Britain's crumbling infrastructure, questioning the aesthetics of new developments that mar the countryside. They tackle the baffling dysfunction of the Home Office, dissecting its £23 billion budget and persistent blunders. The conversation breezes through the value of craftsmanship in architecture, lamenting the rise of ugly buildings due to misguided regulations. The duo also faces off over Pink Floyd's cultural significance, sparking a fascinating debate about music's place in society.
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Why The Home Office Keeps Failing
- Peter Hitchens says the Home Office handles the "nastier bits" of government and will always produce crises.
- He argues it's inherently prone to failure because it runs hidden wiring and difficult functions.
Focus On One Big Reform
- Peter Hitchens would remake the police by training a new force and shutting down the old one.
- He recommends concentrating a Home Secretary's attention on one major reform and delegating everything else.
Birthday Train Breakdown Example
- Peter Hitchens recounts birthday travel disrupted by a points failure on a new, expensive train.
- He uses the trip to illustrate widespread public-service unreliability despite heavy spending.
