Adams Smith Institute likes Tony Blair

[Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

The Daily Mail					10 December 1997

RIGHT-WING THINK-TANK APPLAUDS LABOUR

	By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political Correspondent

One of Margaret Thatcher's favourite think-tanks has awarded top marks
to Tony Blair's Government after its first 200 days in power.

The Adam Smith Institute, which developed some of the leading ideas of
the Thatcher years, marked the main initiatives of all Government
departments, concluding that Mr Blair has made a "remarkably promising
start".

The Social Security Department, led by Harriet Harman, scored a 100 per
cent approval rating, with its Welfare to Work initiatives highlighted for
praise. High marks were also given to Gordon Brown, the Chancellor,
whose decision to give limited independence to the Bank of England won
particular approval, as did cuts in corporation tax.

The ASI was less impressed with the "raid on pensions" and the scrapping
of tax relief on private medical insurance for the elderly. Grading each
initiative on a points scale, the report found that far more of the
Government's actions merited a positive than a negative mark. The total
approval rating was 67.8 per cent.

Ministries which did not fare so well included the Department for
International Development on 18.2 per cent, and the Department of Health
on 11.8 per cent. Both are headed by more traditional Labour Cabinet
ministers, Clare Short and Frank Dobson. Madsen Pirie, the ASI's director,
said: "Part of this success may simply be the effect of a new, vigorous
government coming in with fresh ideas. But there seems to be a genuine
commitment to problem-solving."

The report concluded: "It is already evident just from the list of these
initiatives that the Labour Government is vastly different from previous
ones which bore that name. Its acceptance of market principles evidently
goes much deeper than many of its critics feared during its campaign."