Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By David French Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
The public believes that television alcohol adverts breach their regulatory controls. There is a clear need to strengthen the rules, argues Professor David French. Television advertising of alcohol is subject to what should be strong content controls. Regulations ban advertisements from implying that alcohol can contribute to popularity or confidence, or that it is capable […]
By Helen Gunter Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
Four years on from the bonfire of the quangos, non-elected consultants are still playing a significant role within government, says Prof Helen Gunter. The focus on leadership as the solution for improving public services continues to dominate reform. And aligned to this is the whole concept of ‘consultocracy’, a term first coined by Hood and Jackson to underline the […]
By Sue Llewellyn Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
Sharing information on the cost of treatment could help achieve better patient outcomes at a lower cost, says Professor Sue Llewellyn. But, given the current tensions between collaboration and competition in the NHS, some trusts seem unwilling to provide the ‘commercially sensitive’ information to commissioners that would help make this happen. A recent Parliamentary health select committee report urged […]
By Mike Emmerich Filed Under: Featured Posted:
With market forces and state funding failing to ensure the wellbeing of our cities, universities can be the architects in the development of a new social economy, argues Mike Emmerich. Austerity. Rising inequality. Poverty. Unemployment. An ageing population. These are all challenges that exercise the great minds of the world. There is recognition that a new approach […]
By Nissa Finney Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Shelter says there is a housing crisis, while the Bank of England fears an unsustainable property price bubble is underway. But, as Dr Nissa Finney explains, the housing crisis hits ethnic minorities worst. The UK is in a housing crisis, according to Shelter. This has been brought about by the shortage of housing coupled with […]
By Petra Nordqvist Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
Dr Petra Nordqvist argues that openness about donor conception can cut at the heart of family relationships and is a process that needs to be managed sensitively Donor conception is becoming increasingly common. It is estimated that, to date, 35,000 children have been born through donated egg, sperm and embryos in the UK. Statistics from […]
By Nicolette Butler Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
The proposal of a mechanism for investors to sue foreign governments is one of the more contentious aspects of the on-going EU-US trade talks. But as Dr Nicolette Butler argues, the benefits of neutrality and de-politicisation in dispute resolution should not be hastily discounted. As the latest round of EU-US trade talks rumble into their final day, […]
By Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Ferdi De Ville Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
The European elections have coincided with the latest round of talks on the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Dr Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Dr Ferdi De Ville argue that election campaigns have continued to put advocates of the deal on the defensive, but it has not prompted any fundamental shift in their position. ‘We observe […]
By Alina Rzepnikowska Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Attacks on Polish families living in the UK are strongly influenced by negative portrayals in the media, argues Alina Rzepnikowska. Polish families in Belfast have suffered a series of attacks in recent week. A row of three Polish families’ homes was spray painted with messages telling the families to leave the city. Elsewhere in Belfast, […]
By Georgios Papanagnou Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
A series of reforms that started roughly around the late 1970s have transformed the European Parliament from an ineffective institution to an assembly with significant powers, writes Dr Georgios Papanagnou. But he argues that there is much still to be done – and this should be an urgent priority for the European political class. There […]