IMP shelved (for the moment at least)

[Caspar Bowden]

>bounces at chiark.greenend.org.uk] On Behalf Of Richard Clayton
...
>There seems a wide split in the reporting, between those who spoke to Ministers
>(everything going ahead, just not in this Queen's Speech) and those who spoke to
>officials -- who seem to think that the proposal is off in the long grass and will not be 
>back for quite a while 

[CB] Yes, but they have different Rice-Davies motivations. Ministers don't want journos to get the idea they are impotent fag-ends of a doomed administration, and still have political credibility in policymaking. Officials don't want journos to delve into the implications of this policy while they get on with crafting the legislation. 

Rememember 1997 and key-escrow? It took about 3 weeks after the election for New Labour to be "briefed" and jettison the manifesto rejection of escrow policy. The reason: nobody who mattered ever understood the implications of that paragraph of the manifesto.

--
Caspar