Successive governments, however, have shown themselves unwilling to enforce this law.

The importance of energy security has made successive governments reluctant to press the industry harder on customer service.

For far too long, successive governments have maintained, at enormous cost, the charade of deploying a so-called independent strategic nuclear deterrent.

Yet while successive governments pretend to revere books, they might as well throw them on the bonfire.

For example, successive governments have sold off valuable national assets, such as council houses and utilities, at discounts.