Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Dimitris Papadimitriou Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
In the aftermath of the Greek general election, which put SYRIZA, an anti-austerity left wing party, into power in coalition with far-right Independent Greeks, Dimitris Papadimitriou Professor of European politics at The University of Manchester, explores the situation and assess the possible impact. So, there you have it! Greek bailout politics have come full circle. […]
By Francesca Gains and Dave Richards Filed Under: All posts, Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
In the final part of our special series on the Civil Service, Francesca Gains and Dave Richards sum up the debate and assess the future of the service during a period of great change. The most striking theme to emerge from the Policy@Manchester series of Civil Service ‘stocking-taking’ blogs by Martin Stanley and Colin Talbot […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
The unwritten British constitution as it affects Civil Service accountability – especially to Parliament – is going through an incremental, but very significant, change, argues Professor Colin Talbot. At the heart of the British constitution lies the concept of separation of the administrative elite from the political elite. This is very different from other countries […]
By Martin Stanley Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
In the second of three blogs Martin Stanley examines whether senior officials should be more accountable – especially to MPs – for the advice that they give to Ministers. This is the fourth post in our series on the Civil Service. How would officials react to greater public scrutiny? Most of them, I suspect, would […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
The UK has had a clear dividing line between its political and administrative leadership. In the third post in our series examining the current state of the Civil Service, Professor Colin Talbot argues that the rise of the SPAD and the Tsar is changing this. Special advisors – or SPADs, to use their common acronym […]
By Laia Becares Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Lifetime experiences of racism damage the health of ethnic minorities from before birth until death, writes Dr Laia Bécares. Racism is toxic for health. This can be taken literally, proven by a vast environmental justice literature that shows how some ethnic minorities are more likely than the white majority population to live within close […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Over the coming weeks Policy@Manchester will run a series of blogs exploring the role of the Civil Service and how it works with Government Ministers. In the first, Colin Talbot explores whether “Sir Humphrey” is no more. Has the Civil Service moved away from the image of the public school, Oxbridge, pale, male and stale […]
By Michael Donmall Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
After four people are suspected to have been killed by tablets that may have been thought to be ecstasy over the festive season, Michael Donmall, of the National Drug Evidence Centre at The University of Manchester writes about the dangers of keeping recreational drugs illegal and calls for controlled availability of tested products. Recent deaths […]
By Michael Dawson Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
Last month Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe called for fewer police forces in the UK as cuts in public spending change the way that out services have to operate . Here Michael Dawson, of devolution campaign group Campaign for the North says the region should have a single police force; There are many merits to Bernard Hogan-Howe’s recent […]
By Annie Austin Filed Under: Featured Posted:
Policy fetishism about GDP is being replaced by an unthinking devotion to simplistic happiness indicators, warns Annie Austin. “In a decade’s time we’re going to be using happiness as the sole basis for judging the impact of public policy.” So stated Paul Dolan recently in the opening sequence of ITV’s Tonight programme, entitled ‘Is Britain […]