David Cameron failed to block Jean Claude Juncker from being nominated by the European Council for the post of European Commission President. Dr. Georgios Papanagnou takes a look at some of the weaknesses in the campaigns by Cameron and the British media. In the end “this time was not so much different” – Jean Claude […]
Trust Teachers – The first Manchester Education Debate
Educationalists, teachers and academics have taken part in the first of a series of debates about the future of our schools in the run up to the 2015 election. Dr Andrew Howes pulls together some key strands from the discussion. If one in four good, trained teachers is saying ‘I’m leaving teaching, I need a […]
Reform of world trade long overdue
Reports that Russia is threatening to take the United States to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine crisis throws the global trade body into a more geopolitical light than we have grown accustomed to in recent times. More commonly, the WTO is associated with what are rather wearisome disagreements […]
The problem with alcohol advertising
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 […]
Consultants still playing a big role in government
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 […]
Open up on costs to improve NHS care
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 […]
Doing wrong in order to do right in Northern Ireland
As recent events in Northern Ireland have shown, sometimes it is necessary to do wrong in order to do right and we need to understand better this moral paradox when judging politicians, says Dr Stephen de Wijze. The debate about how Northern Ireland deals with its dreadful past has been building for many months. Indeed […]
Who owns London’s revenues?
The debate is raging on whether London disproportionately creates or consumes the UK’s revenues. Dr Adam Leaver chips in. Ever since Evan Davis presented Mind the Gap, a debate has raged about whether London’s dominance of the UK economy is a positive or a negative. While my colleagues Iain Deas, Graham Haughton and Stephen Hincks have put forward the […]
Japanese government turns matchmaker to boost birth rate
Japan has announced it is spending millions of pounds on state-sponsored dating events to boost its slumping birth rate. But as Dr Aya Homei argues, this overly simplistic approach is a diversion from the consequences of a fiercely male work culture that makes little allowance for women and their childcare needs. The Telegraph recently reported on […]
Middle managers hold key public health role
Ignore middle managers at your peril. They may be central to development and implementation of policy, explains Dr Kathryn Oliver Middle managers are more important than people often think – and that is very true when it comes to influencing and implementing public health policy. In fact, middle managers without a professional training in public […]