Why Bother To Commission One At All…?

Just days after Jacqui Smith decided to throw out a report on the reclassification of cannabis in pursuit of votes, the government are at it again, allegedly trying to nobble a study into the 60-tonne ‘superlorries’, presumably because they think there might be votes in not having these behemoths on the road:

The authors of a government-commissioned study into 60-tonne superlorries have come under pressure to alter their findings to give ministers an excuse for rejecting road trials.

A source close to the study said part of the reason for the delay was that the DfT had been trying to persuade the authors to make their findings less positive. The source said that the authors had refused to allow their independence to be compromised. “You have to draw a line between accepting amendments to clarify arguments and changing the final conclusions and recommendations.”

More money down the drain on ‘expert studies’ that produce the wrong answers….