Choice Blog

Fixing some problems

There is at least one certainly in life: there will be plenty of uncertainty. Circumstances change and there is always something that needs attention. In 48 years i publishing many times something I was expecting to happen didn't. None of my bosses over the years expected me to do a Private Frazer from Dad's Army and simply say: "We're doomed, doomed I tell ye."

They were expecting a positive plan to make the best of a problem or the most of a windfall. It is the same in all business. If all the person in charge can do is whinge, talk doom or demand extra investment wih no sensible return they are bound for the exit door. So why does this rule not apply to politicians, civil servants and managers in the public sector?

Perhaps what is needed is a few of Sir Winston Churchill's "Action This Day" memos, some of Mrs Thatcher's icy stares or Aneurin Bevan's show of determination to face down the medical establishment and launch the NHS. There are plenty of issues that need tackling head on, from the economy and health and social care to The Arsenal's woeful defence. 

We need inspiration and smart thinking not defeatism and in-fighting to solve them- especially at Arsenal.

On to a problem that I hope the Choice team has solved. Our popular double page spread of puzzles was a bit squeezed when we added the Sudoku. Readers told us this made it difficult to fill it in. So, from this issue onwards we have added an extra page to give everything more space.

Thanks to everyone who let us know we hadn't got it right.