All posts – Page 58

SR2015: £35bn on debt interest? But what about the £375bn held by the Bank of England?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: All posts, Westminster Watch, Whitehall Watch Posted: November 25, 2015

More fast reaction from Colin Talbot to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2015. One thing has puzzled me since the introduction of “Quantitative Easing” (QE) in 2009. Between then and 2012 the Bank of England ‘bought’ £375bn of government bonds from their previous private sector owners. This is a pretty sizeable chunk of the total Government […]

SR2015: Spending: Is 36% of GDP still his target?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: All posts Posted: November 25, 2015

[Rather than single blog I am posting a series of shorter posts on the Spending Review today on specific issues] “Mr Speaker, I want to announce to the House that we are on target to meet our long-term economic plan of reducing the size of the British state to just 36%, putting firmly at the […]

Unpicking the polls

By Mike Addelman Filed Under: All posts, Polling Observatory Posted: November 24, 2015

Mike Addelman, in collaboration with the BES team, blogs about work to uncover just why the opinion polls before the 2015 General Election were so wrong. One of the world’s longest-running investigations into political attitudes and voting behaviour, the British Election Study (BES), has been amassing huge quantities of data on every General Election since […]

Making Theatre in the Midst of Austerity

By Jenny Hughes Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted: November 23, 2015

Public spending cuts to the arts damage society as much as the arts themselves, argues Jenny Hughes. In his book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, Mark Blyth summarises an economic policy of austerity as “a morality play, one that has shifted the blame from the banks to the state. Austerity is the penance […]

The quest for solidarity in a fractured Europe II – in the aftermath of ‘Paris’

By Tanja Müller Filed Under: All posts, Europe Posted: November 20, 2015

A few months ago Tanja Müller wrote a blog on the failed quest for solidarity in Europe in light of the movement of refugees and migrants. Here she follows that up with another in the wake of devastating Paris attacks. The main response in too many countries then – and I wrote the previous blog […]

Policy Week: Engagement between scientists and politicians

By Laura ffrench-Constant Filed Under: All posts, Science and Technology Posted: November 9, 2015

The final day of Policy Week saw Sam Illingworth of Manchester Metropolitan University chair a lively discussion about the relationship between scientists and politicians, exploring how engagement could be optimised. Speakers included: Lucy Powell MP, Amanda Bamford of the University of Manchester, Dr Richard Walker from the Royal Society of Chemistry and Dr Caroline Kenny […]

Policy Week: Technology and healthcare; empowering the patient and influencing policy

By Laura ffrench-Constant Filed Under: All posts Posted: November 9, 2015

Manchester Informatics held a panel discussion, during Day Four of Policy week, about how technological innovation can help shape health policy and deliver joined up health and social care solutions. The event was chaired by Carmel Dickinson the Programme Manager of Manchester Informatics. Panellists at the event included: John Ainsworth Deputy Director of the Centre […]

Policy Week: What is citizen social science, and how can it help policy?

By Laura ffrench-Constant Filed Under: All posts Posted: November 6, 2015

The Citizen Social Science Research Methods programme based at the University of Manchester held an innovative forum about how citizen science can be used to tackle complex policy challenges as part of Policy Week. The session was chaired by Liz Richardson of the University of Manchester and speakers included: Dr Sheena Cruickshank, Dr Kingsley Purdam, […]

Policy Week: How Much Evidence is ‘Enough’ Prior to Policy Implementation?

By Laura ffrench-Constant Filed Under: All posts, Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted: November 6, 2015

The New Researcher Network hosted a breakfast session during Policy Week to investigate how much evidence is ‘enough’ prior to policy implementation and how to strike the balance between ‘ideal evidence’ and pragmatic decision making. The event was chaired by Dr Kieron Flanagan, whilst Dr Julian Simpson of the University of Manchester and Dr Kathryn […]

Policy Week: Notes on a drugs scandal

By Samuel Wood Filed Under: All posts Posted: November 5, 2015

Professor David Nutt, who was sacked as a Government drugs policy advisor in 2009 gave a very frank interview about his experiences to Victoria Gill, as part of Policy Week 2015. Here Sam Wood reports on the conversation. Prof Nutt says he went into his Government role optimistic that he would be able to change […]