This morning two stories have reappeared, both are based on decisions taken personally by David Cameron and both relate to attempts to impact our  behaviour. They show an incoherence at the heart of our Government.

This morning it appears that David Cameron is reconsidering his earlier decision to abort the proposals for plain packaging on cigarettes. This is a U turn, but very much a personal one. I wrote about the previous change of mind in late July. David Cameron spoke on national TV and made it clear that he was shelving any plans for plain packaging, not because of any evidence, nor because of a political disagreement with Cabinet colleagues (Tobacco Tax is very lucrative to the Exchequer ad Tobacco Companies are a powerful lobby for the Business Department) but because of an epiphany (my word) in his kitchen one morning. He made it clear in July that this was a done deal. Here we are this morning, a bare 4 months later with Jane Ellison, the Public Health Minister speaking on Radio 4 deriding the Labour Party for churlishness in their response and insisting that the issue had been under active review all along. That is the very opposite of what the PM said in July, one of them is wrong or lying, that it is a welcome change of position does not make it less of a lie or error.

I previously wrote about a decision that David Cameron explained to some School Children he had taken, regarding the charging for plastic bags in Supermarkets. I was rather dismissive of the idea that we needed our Prime Minister to be involved in such a decision. A few days later Nick Clegg spoke about the same topic and suggested it was a Cabinet level decision. This seemed even more bizarre. However we now have the news that this high level decision will be policed by local government departments that are already under resourced. Perhaps Eric Pickles who is responsible for links between the Cabinet and Local Government has not done his homework, or has failed to communicate with his colleagues (the people he likes to call chums). So the plastic bag decision is not a U turn, but certainly based on this report its implementation is very much in doubt.

 Neither of these policies could be considered to be issues that will change the world overnight. Clearly reducing plastic bags has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact that you and I have on the planet. A reduction to cigarette intake has the potential to change lives, even if one or two at a time. However together these point to some form of incoherence in the work of the Government which may well be doing a great deal more damage in other areas.