This year’s Budget is further evidence of politicians’ unwillingness to address an ‘inactivity time bomb’ that in time will undermine our economy, explains Dr Daniel Fitzpatrick. Lower unemployment and improved growth forecasts made this year’s Budget a much happier one for George Osborne. He was helped by the surprising news that most people in the […]
Pickles-Paterson floods spat highlights true top-down nature of UK policymaking
A top-down centralised decision-making process and government functions working in silos are not new features of UK politics, writes Dr Daniel Fitzpatrick. But as communities across the UK experience misery due to flooding, it seems these deeply entrenched pathologies of policymaking are increasingly out of step with the ‘wicked’ issues that society is facing. The […]
Avoiding catastrophe: the role of the state in the water-food-energy nexus
The recurring themes of water, food and energy in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals suggest the policy-making community is waking up to the deep inter-dependencies between these three essential resources. The role of central governments in translating such a ‘nexus thinking’ into meaningful action, in order to avoid a potential catastrophe, will be critical, writes […]
A welcome message from the Science and Technology editors
Knowledge of science and technology permeates every social space, and is central to the ways we govern ourselves today. This blog focuses on what the current debates in science, technology and environmental science mean for policy and vice-versa. It aims to be a truly interdisciplinary platform seeking to bring together a range of diverse voices […]