The honours list addresses leak bodes ill for this government’s administrative abilities

All signs suggest this it will be Britain’s the most interventionist government since the 1970s. And the more a government intervenes, the more competent it has to be

The leak by the Cabinet Office of the addresses of those who have received new years honours was indeed a “complete disaster”, as one controversial recipient observed.

Many organisations suffer data breaches but the problem for a government is far worse than for a bank or an airline. The various branches of government between them hold more information about citizens than any commercial organisation – even Facebook or Google – possibly could.

Furthermore, citizens can shut their Facebook accounts; they cannot close their accounts with Her Majesty’s Government.