It is a common, and growing complaint across Middle England: why are taxpayers treated as supplicants, rather than as empowered consumers? In an interview with this newspaper, Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, offers HS2 as an example of publicly-owned bodies that routinely treat taxpayers as if they were a nuisance. The HS2 complaints system has been “sub-optimal”, he says, showing scant compassion or respect to those affected by the new high-speed rail line: it was “dishonest, misleading and inconsistent” in its dealings with a family whose home it was trying to purchase.

This problem extends across government: there is a “lack of listening,” warns Mr Behrens, “a lack of willingness to learn”. One might add that this culture of treating users as a problem rather than a customer has expanded into parts of the private sector, often covered-up in a thin-veneer of wokery or Covid-compliance. Big government, many charities, the arts and and some parts of big business increasingly think alike, committed to political goals, including hitting net zero, that are perceived to be more important than the essential responsibility of delivering a decent service at a reasonable price.

But it is the state itself that is the worst offender, as confirmed most recently by the scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust. According to the Ockenden Review, published last week, more than 200 babies and nine mothers might have survived had it not been for serious failings. National guidelines were not followed; families were let down; mistakes were not learnt from investigations; serious incidents were even downgraded inappropriately to avoid external scrutiny. There was a “Republic of Maternity” culture.

The Government might promise action, but it has repeatedly failed to confront bureaucratic know-it-alls head-on during its lengthy period in office. It tried to in the early years of the Coalition, but the blob reasserted its influence and ministers have retreated into the old, New Labour metric of performance: not how well a service is delivered but how much money is being spent on it.

This not only betrays the consumer but also ultimately will risk undermining the Conservatives at election time. In a contest to douse the public sector in cash, Labour will always promise more, regardless of what the country can actually afford – and without any commitment to improve productivity or consumer rights.