Policy@Manchester Articles

Polling Observatory #43: Stability returns with race close to dead heat

By Rob Ford, Will Jennings, Mark Pickup and Christopher Wlezien Filed Under: All posts, Polling Observatory Posted: December 17, 2014

This is the forty-third 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 […]

Decoupling education from party politics

By Andrew Howes Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 16, 2014

Dr Andy Howes, of the Manchester Institute of Education at The University of Manchester, discusses possible changes to the exam system, as discussed at an Education Select Committee meeting earlier this month. The select committee is arguably a high point of democratic accountability within the Westminster system. The Education Select Committee earlier this month was […]

The Criminal Law and Policing Pregnancy

By Alexandra Mullock Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted: December 15, 2014

The contentious question of whether drinking excessively during pregnancy should be regarded as a criminal offence has recently been considered by the Court of Appeal. Earlier this month the court delivered its verdict in the case of CP v CICA, a case that has attracted significant media interest because of the implications of criminalising pregnant […]

All this talk about balancing the budget is …

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Westminster Watch, Whitehall Watch Posted: December 12, 2014

Remember the Maastricht criteria? No, I didn’t think so. Nor apparently do Britain’s political leaders, based on their manifestos for tackling the UK’s deficit. The Maastricht Criteria were the convergence criteria for European countries that wanted to join the Euro. Agreed in 1992 (including by John Major’s Conservative government) it covered inflation, deficits, debt, exchange […]

Are all lives valued equally?

By Roisin Read Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted: December 10, 2014

On World Human Rights day, Dr. Róisín Read, of the Humanitarian Conflict Response Institute at The University of Manchester, writes about the ethics and issues surrounding humanitarian aid. As the 64th World Human Rights Day is marked today, it is worth taking this opportunity to think about the relationship between human rights and humanitarianism, as some of […]

New poverty research shows potential of citizen-led science

By Liz Richardson Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 10, 2014

New research and a set of interactive charts and maps are launched today by the Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group (GMPAG), together with the University of Manchester, revealing the continuing extent of poverty among the city region’s poorest residents. This new research sets out key poverty data for Greater Manchester, made available through an interactive […]

Internet provides new threat to employment rights

By Debra Howcroft and Birgitta Bergvall-Kareborn Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 9, 2014

Yesterday shoppers are estimated to have spent almost £500,000 every minute buying Christmas presents online, on what has been dubbed ‘Manic Monday’. Internet technologies are challenging not just commerce, but also employment practices. Amazon provides a ‘crowd employment platform’ that disrupts traditional employer-worker relationships and creates a new class of freelance worker without employment rights, […]

Nuclear energy and society

By Andrew Sherry Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: December 8, 2014

Faced by the challenge of energy security, the UK nuclear industry is recognising the need to engage with society on the case for nuclear power. Professor Andrew Sherry explains. Many areas of science and engineering are difficult to discuss with the public. This is particularly true where views are entrenched and polarised. Nuclear energy […]

Questions remain over Northern future

By Michael Dawson Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 4, 2014

George Osborne announced additional funding for science and culture in the North in his autumn statement, but Michael Dawson of Campaign for the North, a political movement aiming for devo max for the region, says he didn’t go far enough. In the wake of the Autumn Statement, serious questions still need to be answered surrounding […]

Not So Much an Autumn Statement, More a (Tory) Manifesto for a Small State?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 3, 2014

Today’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne was both a report card and a manifesto. It was a (self written) report card on the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government that has been in power since May 2010. But it was also a manifesto for the Conservative-only government George Osborne would like to see after May 2015. […]