Government's U-turn on the controversy over the non-renewal of vehicle licences for taxi drivers for not using their GPS dispatch systems has highlighted several problems with the way Premier Dr. Ewart Brown runs his Ministries of Tourism and Transport.

The first, as Junior Transport Minister Marc Bean admitted last week, was that the policy was wrong headed; taxi drivers were being punished for something that may well have been the dispatchers' fault.

The second was then admission that Government might have been acting illegally. Sen. Bean said: "I am not confident that we are on firm legal ground with regard to the Motor Car Act." That's politician-speak for "we are wrong in law". And it is a remarkable admission for a Government that has frequently shown its willingness to spend taxpayers' money on court cases it knows it is going to lose.

The third problem stems from the first two. The taxi licence problem has been growing for weeks. Government first refused to acknowledge, then refused to do anything about it until the last minute. This is the worst kind of brinksmanship, but all too typical. As a result, hundreds of people were inconvenienced on Friday as the Transport Control Department was overwhelmed.

The fourth problem concerns accountability. Having pushed this problem to the limit and having put the livelihoods of hundreds of people at risk, one person was conspicuous by his absence when the climbdown took place. Many politicians have noted Dr. Brown's happiness to take the limelight to announce good news and to disappear when there's bad news. This time Sen. Bean was left to carry the can, having been appointed as the troubleshooter for the issue.

No one should think that this U-turn occurred as a result of someone in the Transport Ministry, let alone the Premier, stopping for a moment and realising that this policy was draconian, illegal and unfair.

As Radio Cabs spokesman Eddie Darrell said: "… they did not come up with this decision of their own accord. We were going to serve them papers tomorrow."

In other words, if the cabbies had simply accepted their fate, today they would be out of work, as a result of the illegal enforcement of the law. Government only backed down because it faced legal action.

Is this any way to run a country?