Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity."Schools testing: John Patten's vigorous insistence on new national curriculum tests in schools brought him into conflict with teachers' unions which thought them "wrong, unworkable and not properly thought out". The unions agreed on a boycott, but only after an attempt to have the boycott ruled illegal was thrown out by the courts were concessions made. Eventually, a review by Sir Ron Dearing simplified and rationalised the tests, and a new education secretary, Gillian Shephard, agreed to delay league tables to let teachers "get on with the job".The courts: In July 1993 five Law Lords ruled the former Home Secretary, Kenneth Baker, in contempt for deporting a Zairean teacher before his lawyers had time to apply for a judicial review. In a restatement of 17th- century principle, the Government's plea that ministers were above the law was thrown out. Michael Howard has been condemned for unilaterally changing the rules on the compensation of victims of crime, and for barring the Moonie leader Sun Myung Moon from the country, while the Foreign Office was ruled to have broken the law by using aid money to clinch an arms deal with Malaysia.The press: In scandals involving David Mellor and Michael Mates the Prime Minister stood by his men, saying he and not the press would be the judge of their fitness to govern, and then, in the face of fierce criticism, abandoned them.Back to Basics: More ministers, notably Tim Yeo, were driven out by scandal after Mr Major's "back to basics" party conference speech in 1993. He called for a return of self-discipline, respect for law, self-reliance and respect for others, and he insisted afterwards he had never meant it to include personal morality. Polls showed the public thought it should.Prisons: The Government, determined to inject private sector discipline into the Prison Service, appointed a businessman, Derek Lewis, to reform it.

Last month Mr Lewis was sacked after the Learmont Report found that the changes had made the service muddled and bureaucratic, and created the conditions for some spectacular escapes. Mr Lewis accused Michael Howard of making his job impossible.Lottery: As the outgoing Conservative communications director, Hugh Colver, asked despairingly last week: "How can you lose on a policy which created over 100 millionaires in its first year and gave pounds 1bn to good causes and another pounds 1bn to the Treasury? It is a prize example of how to turn a public relations triumph into a disaster." Perhaps so much money was bound to cause envy, but decisions such as the purchase of the Churchill papers only made things worse.The Post Office: A year ago, a Tory revolt forced Michael Heseltine to abandon legislation for the privatisation of the Post Office. The organisation needed private capital and commercial freedom to survive, the theory went, but backbenchers feared the effect on prices and on small post offices. They had the last word.Rail privatisation: A different story. This was the measure even Margaret Thatcher's government balked at, but Mr Major pushed ahead.

The result has been Railtrack (a company so high-handed it has managed the unlikely feat of making British Rail popular), and the cumbersome movement towards a rail network of dozens of private firms Higher fares and fewer trains are widely expected. Even Major-General Lennox Napier, outgoing chairman of the rail users' body, likened the sell-off to a pantomine, except, he said, that "pantomimes should have a happy ending".QMV: In March 1994 the Prime Minister made clear he would take a firm stand against any alteration of the EU's "Qualified Majority Voting" system. "We aren't going to do what the Labour Party do, which is to say yes to everything coming out of Europe," he told the Commons, branding Labour's John Smith "Monsieur Oui, the poodle of Brussels". Within days he had climbed down and accepted a formula proposed by Brussels.Nolan: After a flood of sleaze scandals involving Tory MPs, John Major invited a committee under Lord Nolan to recommend ways of repairing Parliament's good name. Greater disclosure of members' interests was one answer, but some Tory MPs objected. A Parliamentary committee examined the Nolan proposals and the Tory majority made certain changes. John Major backed these changes, but they were firmly voted down in the Commons.Fat cats: When the top pay scandals began, Mr Major said it was a matter for private business.