Policy@Manchester Articles

Polling Observatory 33: public opinion steady through the storms

By Rob Ford, Will Jennings and Mark Pickup Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted: February 12, 2014

This is the thirty-second in a series of posts that report on the state of the parties as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence we can reduce the impact of the random variation each individual survey inevitably produces. Most of the short term advances and setbacks in party polling fortunes are […]

Fast Water versus Slow Water: Fragmentation in adaptation and resilience to flooding and water scarcity

By Alison Browne Filed Under: Featured Posted: February 4, 2014

It’s been a tough few years for the residents, citizens, farmers and nature areas of Somerset, UK. The past few months represents the second time in two years that the Somerset region has had to deal with catastrophic levels of flooding, writes Dr. Alison Browne. Data from the MET office show that this is the […]

The prospects for a dramatically more representative Parliament post 2015 are bleak

By Catherine Durose, Francesca Gains, Liz Richardson, Ryan Combs and Christina Eason Filed Under: Westminster Watch Posted: January 31, 2014

The next election is an unknown quantity, with pundits and pollsters both divided on the likely outcome. However one thing is becoming increasingly clear: there is unlikely to be a large-scale move towards a realignment in the House of Commons, with party selectorates continuing to exert influence which amounts to a continuation of a white, […]

Skip diving or food waste: which is the bigger crime?

By Andrew Balmer Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: January 29, 2014

In the coming months, three men will face trial for vagrancy for taking discarded food from a skip. Dr Andy Balmer argues that the actual crime is systemic waste throughout the food production and consumption chain. The practice of ‘skipping’ or ‘skip diving’ features intermittently in the news. Often an intrepid reporter dons his or […]

As the smokescreen clears, time for more honesty on EU-US trade pact

By Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Ferdi De Ville Filed Under: Europe Posted: January 27, 2014

Although negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US were launched with bombastic rhetoric, the last couple of weeks have seen confidence wane, write Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge. They argue that negotiations will take longer and the economic benefits of a deal will be far smaller […]

Placing citizens at the heart of citizen science

By Michelle Kilfoyle and Hayley Birch Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: January 22, 2014

Citizen science isn’t new, but new mobile technologies open up huge potential benefits for science, society and the environment, write Michelle Kilfoyle and Hayley Birch. It seems our modern addiction to smartphones, tablets and gaming is not just providing us with new means of communicating and killing time. It is also providing scientists with innovative ways in […]

Polling Observatory 32: running down the clock

By Rob Ford Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted: January 21, 2014

This blog post, by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings and Dr Mark Pickup is the thirty-second in a series of posts that report on the state of the parties as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence we can reduce the impact of the random variation each individual survey inevitably produces. Most […]

Policy Agendas in British Politics

By Francesca Gains Filed Under: Featured Posted: January 20, 2014

How do Governments arrive at policy decisions in the United Kingdom? There has been a great deal of commentary on the apparent disconnect between Westminster and voters, with priorities not necessarily shared between the two. This book by Peter John, Anthony Bertelli, Will Jennings and Shaun Bevan, will help illuminate the reader on how these policy agendas are shaped, […]

Tough on crime? Lie-detector tests don’t hold all the answers for sex offender management

By Andrew Balmer Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: January 15, 2014

The Coalition has decided to drop the privatisation of polygraph, or ‘lie-detector’ tests for sex offenders. But Dr Andrew Balmer believes that the continued use of this flawed technology within the probation service is misguided and the whole programme should be scrapped. Since the Offender Management Act was changed in 2007 to allow for the […]

Behind the headlines, a nation divided over immigration

By Rob Ford Filed Under: Featured, Westminster Watch Posted: January 14, 2014

Immigration is seldom out of the news, but the past month has seen attention spike to new highs as the removal of transitional controls on migration from Romania and Bulgaria has sparked furious debate, writes Rob Ford. Many headlines suggest the British public is implacably opposed to migration, and demand radical action from the government to bring […]