Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Juanjo Medina and Jon Shute Filed Under: Featured Posted:
Last week the government claimed it was succeeding in stamping out gangs and gang culture, in a review of current Home Office policy. But if you scratch below the rhetoric, argue Jon Shute and Juanjo Medina, you will find these claims are based on evaluation methods barely worthy of an undergraduate thesis. Let us be […]
By Dave Richards and Martin Smith Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Relationships between civil servants and ministers have become increasingly antagonistic, write Professors David Richards and Martin Smith. With incoherent reforms to the policy process and confusion over where accountability lies, there is a pressing need for reform – and for someone to lead it. The current imbroglio surrounding the Universal Credit scheme appears to […]
By Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
On Monday the latest round of talks on the EU-US free trade agreement get underway. Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Ferdi De Ville challenge the proclaimed benefits of this much-vaunted deal. Rather than represent ‘the cheapest stimulus package you can imagine’, they argue the deal is a distraction that is unlikely to significantly boost growth. ‘This is […]
By Rob Ford Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted:
This blog post, by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings and Dr Mark Pickup, is the thiry-first in a series that report on the state of the parties as measured by opinion polls. Manchester Policy Blogs will be posting Polling Observatory updates on a regular basis, alongside the well-established Ballots and Bullets blog. A more detailed […]
By Ian Crowther Filed Under: Featured Posted:
The European Central Bank met this week to begin debating a European-wide bank crisis plan. But if we are to avoid further systemic issues in banking, it is the whole structure that needs to be addressed, argues Ian Crowther. We are in danger of learning nothing from the financial crisis, with bankers, policymakers and regulators […]
By Justice Bawole Filed Under: All posts Posted:
Microcredit and International Development: Contexts, Achievements and Challenges. Edited by Farhad Hossain, Christopher Rees and Tonya Knight Millar. Routledge, 2011. Microfinance services have played important roles in the development of small and medium scale enterprises, writes Dr Justice Nyigmah Bawole. This title deals with contemporary experiences in the microfinance industry – and while it omits […]
By Kevin Anderson Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
In November 2013, Brendan May wrote a piece for the Guardian’s Environment Blog on ‘Why more environmentalists should fly’. In this article, Professor Kevin Anderson, Dr Dan Calverley and Maria Sharmina respond, strongly arguing the case against having more jet-setting greens. It was with growing dismay that we read Brendan May’s blog post, in which […]
By Stephen Wilks Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Contracting out has become the ‘new normal’, writes Professor Stephen Wilks, with around half of all UK government spending now ending up in the pockets of private sector companies. But while public servants must operate within a robust constitutional framework, the same safeguards do not apply to the Public Services Industry. Which is the largest […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Professor Colin Talbot reflects on an Autumn statement that was really a mini-Budget – and some fine detail that hints at the Chancellor’s ultimate intentions. Much of the comment on today’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne will focus on the specific measures he announced (there were lots) and on the short-term politics of the […]
By Ed Cox Filed Under: Featured, Westminster Watch Posted:
During Manchester Policy Week, four leading thinktanks debated what government might look like beyond the General Election and towards 2020. In an abridged version of his speech at the event IPPR North’s Director, Ed Cox (pictured above, standing), says there is life beyond the current austerity measures – but only if there are significant changes to present […]