Government goes Green

Today’s news that the Coalition government has appointed Philip Green to be its efficiency guru is good news for the taxpayer but bad news for Whitehall mandarins, who won’t know what’s hit them. It certainly shows the government is deadly serious about cost-cutting, as there’s no-one tougher than Green when it comes to managing the costs of running his own business and when talking terms with his suppliers.

For Green, it’s reward for him backing David Cameron very publicly during the election campaign and if it goes well elevation to Lord Green of Oxford Circus surely won’t be too far off. Labour (and apparently Vince Cable too) are apparently unhappy because of Green’s wife’s tax status, but his arrangements are perfectly legal and if they didn’t think they were ethical they had long enough in government to sort it out.

I suspect his move into Whitehall will be a shock to both Philip and the civil servants he comes into contact with. I’ve got a lot of time for him but he is by nature an abrasive character and is used to getting his own way. Sparks are inevitably going to fly. If it works, and I hope it does, it will be a triumph. But he will need to be acutely aware that there will always be differences between public service and business, and being conscious of those differences while making genuine savings will be the biggest challenge facing Green.