The term ‘mambypambyism’ was coined by Henry Carey in 1725 to mock sentimental excess, and I have a simple yet ruthless suggestion for running Government.
If the NHS adds one million people to the waiting list, the minister should resign immediately, the same for economic regression, the Chancellor should go in haste with no long goodbyes, and the apologies should rain down upon us along with the P45 of the Prime Minister. A revolving door installed on every ministerial building sounds just the ticket, regardless of the political stripes in power; it is simple and should provide a raw attention to detail and sharpen a few pencils well before General Elections are called for.
To simplify without distortion is an art, they say, so here I go. The government has two limitless weapons, time and our money. It is that simple.
Spin things out long enough, and dissenting voices dwindle, or make poor economic choices, then raise a levy to plug the fiscal hole. Recycle and repeat and choose opportune moments for national communication, targeting the Overton window with missives like, ‘Digital ID, it is for your safety, and you can buy a pint with it’.
The message is clear, from yonder window, we can safely buy a pint, and here I am at 51 years, having never realised pint purchasing was a dangerous pastime, having had little need to surrender any ID documents at the bar for a couple of years now.
It’s a little-known fact that your driver’s license has never been on the official identification list, and yet by adding your photograph in the year 1999, it’s become a halfway house to Digital ID, and in Government thinking, it has given you time to adjust and accept, after all, you whip your passport out when it suits and it’s been almost 26 years.
The question is, why consolidate two IDs to one ID initially (the wider-reaching plans are for future debate)? It is hardly moving the dial. The answer is money, ultimately, and fraud in particular.
In the year ending March 2025, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated around 4.16 million fraud offences, a 31% increase from the previous year. Economic crime in the UK includes fraud, anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, anti-bribery, corruption, and cybercrime. It is a growing list. The UK Finance Annual Fraud Report 2025, published on 27 May 2025, analyses fraud data from over 300 UK Finance member organisations for the calendar year 2024. It reveals that total fraud losses in the UK reached £1.17 billion.
When you consider that the UK Government’s legislative patchwork quilt effect to stem the losses includes the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), the Online Safety Act, the Bribery Act, the Proceeds of Crime Act and, from this point of view, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 it starts to make sense. If only they had said it simply and without distortion. So economic fraud is a big game in town, and you, dear reader, are the sheriff of your work stead, the first line of your firm’s responsibility to a legislative version of crazy paving with a grindingly relentless attention to detail that government ministers and scrutiny committees avoid.
If only we’d started with a portable AML check acknowledged by different regulators as the basic standard, like biometric data contained in your passport chip, then different professions could have added on PEPs, sanctions, and adverse media to offset risk and satisfy the NCA, OFSI, HMRC, HMT and all the others who make up the myriad GOs and NGOs. Now that would have been art, abstract I grant you, but art non the less.