Governments need a minister for ‘new thinking’. This minister would encourage the development of new ideas in all areas. A ‘creative hit-list’ would be set up pinpointing the areas where existing, traditional thinking did not seem good enough.

There is no guarantee that creative thinking will produce a better new idea. But we need to invest formally and seriously in that possibility because the pay-off from a new idea can be considerable.

We need to ask: “what structures are in place to supplement existing thinking with new ideas?”