Its security services have been struck by institutional inertia.

The institutional inertia of a large public-sector bureaucracy will encourage them to take short cuts.

But when push comes to shove such initiatives have tended to flounder in face of institutional inertia, ministerial self-interest and more pressing day-today concerns.

But like so many big corporate initiatives, it fizzled out through institutional inertia.

Endemic corruption and political inertia at a local level make it easy for companies to flout regulations with impunity.

Political inertia remains the greatest obstacle, however, with national and state governments at loggerheads and no co-ordinated action to control pollution in neighbouring states.

Investors will start to think about the feedback loop of inflation (caused in part by the fall in sterling) and poor leadership within the coalition (political inertia).

The law on shoplifting will have to be rewritten to pre-empt sleep inertia defences.

The disorientated feeling in the first hour or two after waking, known as sleep inertia, has been linked to car accidents and aircraft crashes.

Make sure a nap lasts no longer than 45 minutes — drift off for an hour or more and you risk sleep inertia as you progress into a deep sleep.

They call it sleep inertia.

Science seems to set the boundary at about 30 minutes, after which 'sleep inertia' becomes a factor.