I had a meal (Thai, v nice, if you are interested), with a friend who I shall name "Kennedy". And be a little vague, for protection-of-sources reasons.
Kennedy is a middle-ranking Civil Servant, with interests in ecology; I have discussed Peak Oil with him/her and made one of my few converts. I like Kennedy a lot, and, more importantly, trust his/her judgement.
During our conversation on a variety of topics, I naturally brought up the UK's declines in Oil and Gas, and remarked that I didn't think Malcolm Wicks (the UK Energy Minister) really had much of a grasp of what was going on.
Kennedy: Wicks? He's an idiot. A waste of space. Somebody must tie his shoelaces in the morning because I doubt he can.... (etc etc rant rant)
Me: You know him?
Kennedy: Quite well. I used to work on his Briefing Team when he was Pensions Minister. Wrote his Ministerial Replies.
(In the UK when an MP asks a question, Civil Servants write the replies, either written or orally in Parliament. Kennedy explained that on Pensions, they spent a lot of time drafting the replies very carefully, because a misplaced decimal point might mean millions of pounds here or there, and saying the wrong thing could have large consequences.
Apparently Wicks was hopeless - he'd misread what was written, adlib, or miss bits out. The team thought he was completely useless.)
So there you have it: in this crucial time, someone who is one would hope is clued up, is not exactly full of competence.
