So, the riots have come. They had an almost inevitable quality to them – indeed last December I outlined one scenario for when they would happen (see The Great Train Wreck of 2013).

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude claims that the government has made ‘staggering’ savings of £3.75bn in the 10 months May 2010 to March 2011. So just how staggering, and credible, are these claims?

When I was a Trostkyist, back before the last Ice Age, one of our favorite slogans was “workers control”. It is therefore somewhat weird to hear Tory and Liberal Democrat ministers extolling the virtues of ‘liberating the workers’ to run public services, and how they will improve as a result. The new White Paper on […]

I have great respect for the veteran political commentator Peter Riddell, and his new book, “In Defence of Politicians, in spite of themselves” deserves to be widely read. It contains much sage analysis and wise advice and much I agree with.

Dear PM, I am writing to you with some concern because of the workload fall-out from last week’s “events”. As you know, we in Whitehall are taking our fair share of the burden in reducing the deficit and there is to be a significant reduction in the number of senior staff in Whitehall departments.

A trip to the Chippie on my Council estate in Barrow in Furness in the late 1960s had  several advantages for teenage boys. We got some chips. We usually got to hang out with our mates, and even sometimes chat to some girls. But, whisper it, you also had the chance that your chips would […]

UPDATE: I wrote this and posted it, only to find that Murdoch has already made a move – closing down the News of the World! As usual tho, this seems like a manoeuvre – the Sun is to go to seven days instead. The question now is will Government block BSkyB deal and force change […]

The explosive story about phone hacking, and now police bribery, involving the News of the World and Rupert Murdoch’s News International is fast escalating into a political crisis for the Coalition government.

Today, The Equality Trust released its second quarterly Research Digest – a review of what the wider academic literature is saying about income inequality and its effects.  

Some of you may be aware that the highly successful, and influential, Huffington Post news website is launching a UK version next week. I am delighted to have been asked to join their list of regular contributors. My first contribution – about the difference between the UK and USA when it comes to researching and […]