Hardly an hour passes without talk of some new reform in the public sector. For at least thirty years change has been a constant in public services.… Read more “This 18th century monolith is ripe for reform”
Category: Blog
The man who wants to turn the world upside down
Specious use of statistics, intellectual sloppiness and deliberate misunderstanding have been hallmarks of David Cameron’s government and its supporters, but former Home Office minister Nick Herbert’s piece… Read more “The man who wants to turn the world upside down”
Ask a stupid question…
For once I’ve some sympathy for William Hague. Asked on the radio this morning if Britain ‘supported’ yesterday’s coup which removed the Islamist President Morsi from power… Read more “Ask a stupid question…”
Little bangs and big bucks
You know you’ve hit your mid-40s when histories of ‘your’ decade start to fill the bookshelves. Writers are always nostalgic for their youth and thirty years seems… Read more “Little bangs and big bucks”
British politics goes continental
With UKIP’s success in the local elections and recent polls, Britain may be moving rapidly to a four-party system before we’ve got used to a three-party one. In fact, the… Read more “British politics goes continental”
Talking therapy
The left needs to dispel Europe’s political depression before it can tackle the economic gloom. Europe seems to be in the grip of a political depression every… Read more “Talking therapy”
Getting away with it?
Unlike some on the left, I wasn’t a great fan of Hugo Chávez, but the bile directed at El Commandante from the right is revealing. True, he said… Read more “Getting away with it?”
What nature of beast?
It was, I think, Martin Rowson, perhaps our most ghoulish cartoonist, who first asked whether the coalition was evil, useless or both. Faced with David Cameron’s eccentric… Read more “What nature of beast?”
Can’t get no satisfaction?
‘You can’t always get what you want,’ sang Mick Jagger in 1969. ‘But if you try sometimes, well you might just find, you get what you need.’… Read more “Can’t get no satisfaction?”
Baudelaire and our destructive obsession with change
‘The shape of a city changes too fast, alas!, for the heart of mortal man,’ wrote Charles Baudelaire in one of his most famous poems, The Swan.… Read more “Baudelaire and our destructive obsession with change”
