The Government v The Apprentice

Watching the 10 o'clock news has become my substitute for The Apprentice since my favourite show went off air. Each day there's a new installment of Governmental gaffes that offer just as much cringe value as The Apprentice dishes up. Michael Sophocles' dismal understanding of Jewish tradition (the kosher/halal chicken debacle) gave us a squirm in your seat moment akin to the one I had this week on hearing the Government's back-of-a-cigarette-packet plan to tackle knife crime. Forcing perps of knife crimes to visit victims in hospital? Widely thought of as a ludicrous idea that could add to victims' woes, the plan was ditched faster than you could say "You're Fired!" Jacqui Smith's U-turn a day after the proposal was like a last ditch attempt by a trainee Apprentice to escape a dressing down in the boardroom: Desperate and truly agonising to witness. How many nails-scraping-against-the-blackboard moments must we endure from our Government til we see a flash of genius -- the quality that sorts the wheat from the chaff in The Apprentice? Today's task -- to try and stave off inflationary wage increases -- should give them a challenge to get stuck into. Let's hope they can rise to it!