Quite a few UK government policies are not working!

I suppose my views are influenced by the Daily Telegraph but I can't help get the sense that quite a few UK government policies are not working. The tragic deaths of five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Afghanistan yesterday does not seem to be help in any progress towards our objectives there. Any unilateral withdrawal would be difficult since we would experience extraordinary U.S pressure but I think it would be worthwhile. We are not going to settle down for a thirty to forty year
conflict. Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the presence of British troops protects the UK from terrorist attacks but we still have to pay for increased surveillance etc anyway.
The UK educational system seems to be collapsing. Apparently, two out of every five children, who leave primary school, are unable to read and write. Secondary schools are declining according to international surveys. Universities want to charge more in fees for less tuition. We have got Ed Balls and Lord Peter Mandelson presiding over this situation, so I would not expect any improvement.
Home Office secretary Alan Johnson has got himself in a pickle over drugs classification. He does not seem up to a challenge on alcohol misuse, which appears to have led to a rise in unprovoked attacks on people.