Bad news on all counts

The most important domestic political event of the week was not the Labour party conference. It was the mess over the scrapping of the west coast mainline franchise, which was awarded only in August. The episode is bad news for the government on all counts. Financially, there is an initial cost to taxpayers of at least £40m; politically, it fuels claims of incompetence. The “omnishambles” jibes levelled over the spring budget may have meant little to most people, but this further example adds to a sense that the government does not know what it is doing.