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After the election: What next ?
The General Election result will, for those fascinated by the intricacies of such events, provide much fertile ground for endless speculations and interpretations. And there is a risk that these conversations crowd out some important questions as once again the daily media return their gaze to the succession competitions in the Labour and Liberal Democrat…
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Why we need a different ‘conversation’ before May 7
As the General Election campaign shifts into a different gear – the wall to wall coverage, the on / off TV debates , the post debate analysis and the stage managed events in local high streets for the cameras – the gap between the politicians and their reference group and the rest of the country…
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Why changing how public services are run and financed is off the agenda
How public services are funded and how they are run have been two central questions to dominate news and political conversations. The scale of problems associated with the NHS, from the crisis in A&E to the scandals revealed in the Francis Report in Staffordshire, have all been about money and staffing. And yet, as the…
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Why listening to what is said is as important as what is not said: Policy lesson one
In the UK back in 2010 whilst the recurring theme was that the then Labour Government had been responsible for the financial crash all the mainstream parties agreed that austerity was a necessary pre-condition for getting the economy straight. Looking back over the past five years, one of the things which is striking is how consistent…
