Does he really not know, or is he merely dithering?

Benedict Brogan, one of the leading bloggers, today quotes another source and then updates it from his own investigation. He has counted the number of reviews ordered by Gordon Brown since he took over in June.

The Brogan estimate is 49 reviews. This works out at about two per week. Among them the Treasury is conducting 5, the Home Office 6 and the Ministry of Justice 9.

But why is the figure so high?

Is it to keep everyone occupied, so they don't have time or energy f0r rebellion or even stopping to think? If so, he is creating docility, which he wants, but at a cost of poor decision making?

Or is it, as the Tories claim, yet another sign of the famous Brown dithering?

Could it be his defensive strategy when he is in trouble - "Yes, we're in trouble, but we're prepared to learn, and to keep you off our backs I am setting up a review until you forget!"

Could it be that he has created a bigger mess for himself, by his interference when Chancellor, than we suspect?

Whatever the reason, and it could be different for different reviews, it's amazing that having been effectively "co-prime minister" for 10 years, and having had so long to prepare himself for his elevation, he should be so uncertain about what to do now. But then, he claims that he called off the election that never was in order to have time to share his vision with the country. We are still waiting for this vision to astound us.