• Post Brexit Conversations

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) comments on the recent appointment of Labour candidate Andy Burnham: Andy Burnham, Labour candidate for mayor of Greater Manchester, tells us something significant is happening. Most of the focus will be on the internal conflicts within the Labour Party, and they are important for many reasons. But…

  • Why we need to look for the creative spaces to be innovative

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) welcomes Professor Carolyn Kagan’s lecture on ‘Disruptive Change’: The core message for me last night listening to Carolyn Kagan’s very informative reflection on the ways in which key policy initiatives in the areas of anti-racism, gender and disability have been constrained and limited, was how those advocating…

  • Author of The Spirit Level encourages people to think globally but act locally

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) reflects on the 3rd I4P Annual Lecture given by Professor Kate Pickett last night: Kate Pickett (co-author of The Spirit Level) set out a powerful and insightful case that demonstrated the link between inequality and poverty, and the inter-connections with poor health, depression and social inequality. During the…

  • The debate on poverty and inequality should include actions too

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) looks ahead to the 3rd Annual I4P Lecture on 9 February: This year’s lecture is being given by Professor Kate Pickett (York University and co-author of The Spirit Level). The Spirit Level addresses in a powerful and straightforward way, the causes of poverty and also inequality, not…

  • The regeneration of housing estates illustrates the change in the Government’s narrative

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) argues that the announcement of funding to undertake an initial identification of housing estates which need ‘regeneration’ should not be dismissed: I am not suggesting that there has been a change in priorities where the allocation of resources is concerned. The amounts outlined over the weekend do…

  • The importance of executive education programmes for public sector managers, and why ‘silo’ thinking should be challenged

    Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P), reflects on the need for executive education programmes: A key point I want to make from the outset is a declaration of interest – I am the co-editor of an international journal which is committed to publishing essays and research papers from academics and practitioners engaged in…

  • What do we learn from the Comprehensive Spending Review?

    What do we learn from the Comprehensive Spending Review?

    There are three lessons from the Comprehensive Spending Review. First, don’t believe the spin before the statement; Two, don’t believe the spin after the statement; And three, look at the trends in spending and their impact. Whilst the headlines are saying it wasn’t all bad and the cuts weren’t in the order of 30 per…

  • After the election: What next ?

    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…

  • What about the issues that don’t figure in the election campaign, but matter ?

    What about the issues that don’t figure in the election campaign, but matter ?

    The ways in which the formal election campaign and its associated conversations miss out the issues that touch most people, are ones I will come back to over the coming weeks. It’s important to start though by recognising that the shared conversations between the politicians and the media rule out a whole series of voices…

  • Why listening to what is said is as important as what is not said: Policy lesson one

    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…