Opening doors – but how people must walk through it themselves
A friend was recently invited to attend a formal dinner at a university, aimed at helping students prepare for what will face them in the real world. Setting aside for now the scandal that a university...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How can we make Birmingham like Chicago?
Today the Institute for Government held an event on elected mayors; I didn’t go but one of the tweets caught my eye: #bbpBox_185376450646515714 a { text-decoration:none; color:#CC3366;...
View ArticleResponsible Capitalism Means Reforming Capitalism
When the ‘Occupy’ movement descended on the world in September last year, the unsightly camps that plagued cities around the globe were often more visible than the ideals of the protesters inhabiting...
View ArticleTax Freedom Day vs Society
Today* is apparently Tax Freedom Day, on which we “stop working for the Chancellor and start working for ourselves”. I am all for lower taxes and a smaller state – but I am also for a society where we...
View ArticleWhy ensuring that taxes come first is the right principle
Following up on yesterday’s post, I’m reading yet more pre-briefing about the various options to sort out the problem that a cap on tax relief claimable on charitable donations might cause. Setting...
View ArticleAre the Lib Dems missing a trick?
Good narratives are emerging from those at the periphery, but has Nick Clegg taken heed? If there’s one thing I’ve taken from the LibDem conference this year, it’s that there is hope for truly radical...
View ArticleHyperactive purpose
George Bridges* has written a very sensible article in the Telegraph this morning about – basically – the need for strategic communications rather than hyperactive ‘something must be done’ reaction. He...
View ArticleBe brave: MPs should fight for their constituents’ health, not just a building
This morning, Sue Cameron wrote in the Telegraph that she did not believe that Sir David Nicholson should be sacked from his job as Chief Executive of the NHS Commissioning Board (and of the English...
View ArticleSee-through future
One of the things that we – largely – take for granted is access to information. Yet as this government works through its programme, we are getting access to more and more information with, crucially,...
View ArticleAbolish DCMS? Yes please
The rumour that DCMS could be abolished is swirling again and again. Let’s hope so: it would be a good idea. On a practical level, many of its functions can easily sit elsewhere. Media regulation, for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Prime Ministers should explain to the nation if they are committing our armed...
The BBC News at Ten report last night on suspected further chemical attacks Last night’s parliamentary result is an absolute disgrace. The motion the government put forward had been discussed with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We. We. We.
Yesterday’s Budget was pretty smart in many ways, focusing squarely on those who do the right thing, work hard and take responsibility for themselves. Yet that serious, focused, sober effort has been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Futurists, sunshine and making the choice to have control of your sunny future
Via @EdConwaySky Ed Conway at Sky has just tweeted this graphic showing just how unusual it is for a pre-election Budget not to be a giveaway one. People largely expected a big rabbit to be plucked...
View ArticleVotes for 16 and 17 year olds: A chance for Conservatives to be in front of...
As Damian Green says in his introduction to the new Tory Reform Group pamphlet* discussing votes for 16 and 17 year olds, Tories, particularly reforming Tories, should always be careful that the...
View ArticleWhy Ed Miliband was partly right but can’t do anything about it
Yesterday afternoon, I was idly muttering about Ed Miliband’s speech with one of my colleagues who I think wouldn’t be averse to being described as a proper Newish Labour type. We were discussing the...
View ArticleLet’s liberate Britain’s Muslims
The next time David Cameron meets representatives of the Muslim community and they tell him that the reasons for domestic extremism are that ‘Muslims are angry about British foreign policy’ or that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why good governance secures development
I’ve just got back from Project Umubano in Rwanda (more on the specifics another day). I was part of a team working with local NGOs and charities to build their skills and capacity. A view over Kigali...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Victorians, the Liberals and the welfare state
“Protection of the vicious poor involves aggression on the virtuous poor” The words quoted above are those of Herbert Spencer, a prominent Victorian sociologist. If I had read them last week I would...
View ArticleI have the right to choose. So I should also have the right to choose where I...
Many years ago, and very randomly, I took part in a focus group about abortion. I was never terribly sure on what grounds we participants had been selected – we varied in age from late teens to...
View ArticleGay marriage means equal responsibilities
Not everyone is a fan of the Government’s decision to push forward in allowing gay men and women to get married. Roger Helmer, a Conservative MEP, manages to oppose it – miraculously – on both extreme...
View Article
