[Xaccers]

Ah you see, the NuLab mantra is "Choice is best"
I don't care that if I need an operation, I can choose to have it 100 miles away because they give a better chance of success, I want to have the operation at my local hospital and have the best treatment possible.
Likewise with education, I wouldn't want to have to send my kids 20miles away to the best school in the area because I can choose to, I want to send them to the local school and have it just as excellent as all the others.
By giving choice, they're relinquishing responsibility "Didn't get the treatment you wanted? Well you should have chosen differently then. Not our fault you didn't choose to travel 200 miles to better facilities"

Similarly if you give people targets, they'll work to hit those targets, not work to do their job to the best of their ability.
Look at what happened after Tone did his speak to the nation and some woman complained she couldn't get a doctor's appointment for 2 weeks.
New target: No one should wait longer than 48 hours to see their doctor.
Result: You have to phone between 8:30 and 9:00 to get an appointment on the day, if you don't get through then you're not recorded, so doctors hit their target 100% but the level or service has gone down.