Incisive and topical campaigns and commentary on today’s issues and tomorrow’s problems
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Independent Regulators need scrutiny
The public regard Ministers as responsible for many things, including areas where independent bodies have been given wide ranging powers. The independent Bank of England is responsible for keeping inflation to 2% but the public blame the government if inflation takes off and nothing appears to be done about it....Read More »
Memo to an incoming Prime Minister Broadcasting and the digital revolution
The BBC and Channel 4 are being outpaced and outgrown by Netflix and Amazon, Disney and Apple as people seek their entertainment from downloads rather than tuning into the same scheduled programme as their neighbours. As a result the budgets of these large corporations to commission films and seek new...Read More »
Memo to an incoming Prime Minister Social care
There is no easy answer to the complex problems of social care. Nor is there any cheap fix. One of the problems governments have found in proposing changes of policy is many people do not understand the current rules over social care especially for the elderly. Many families never find...Read More »
Memo to an incoming Prime Minister Public spending does not control itself
The role of Chief Secretary needs strengthening as the Treasury’s second Cabinet Minister. Working for and under the general direction of the Chancellor the Chief Secretary needs to probe and challenge the bids for additional funds and the way in which existing budgets are being spent. He or she should...Read More »
Memo to an incoming Prime Minister It’s not the amount of money you spend that counts
Sometimes the outgoing government has adopted the Labour approach to public services, defining them by the amount spent. This says if I spend extra on a public service it will be better than if I do not. People are told they should be grateful whatever the actual level of service...Read More »