Britain’s politicians are making us a laughing stock. Before last year’s MPs’ expenses scandal the UK, was in the lowest quartile of EU countries in terms of confidence in its national Parliament....
The most worrying outcome of the general election for the English gets ever closer: six Scottish and three Welsh nationalist MPs propping up a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition government.
Labour has clearly lost, but the Tories also clearly did not win either, however much they want to pretend otherwise. The verdict of the electors is that they do not want one-party rule anymore. The...
JUDY HIRST Big government or the Big Society? It was a constant theme throughout the election campaign. It was even returned to by that old trooper – Tony Blair – on the eve of polling day.
STEPHEN COURT Young people might not have carried the news in this election but there is enough political feeling there to make the next generation of voters a vital constituency
John Thornton suggests that the process of voting ‘has failed miserably to keep pace with social and technological change’ (‘Vote with your finger’, April 23–29).
The comment piece ‘Taking charge’ advocated that politicians and public sector leaders ‘be brave’ and introduce top-up fees (April 23–29). The illustration of an M6 Toll sign had the caption: ‘Toll...
By far the best scenario for Britain would be the return of a strong government prepared to cut public spending by £20bn annually. The implications of a hung parliament would be potentially bleak.
There is little sign that any of the three main parties have given serious thought to reforming Whitehall, or its relationship with the other 90% of public services that it doesn’t directly run.
With the polls continuing to show a three-horse race in the election, it’s worth considering whether a hung Parliament would be a good or a bad thing. The result of most concern is that the Scottish...
Public sector employers have finally woken up to the scale of the financial challenge that is coming their way. They are massively more pessimistic than their private sector counterparts about job...
Fleet Street’s finest were in shock this week when it turned out that none of the three main political parties had been completely open and frank about the true extent of the cuts that are awaiting...
VICTORIA MACDONALD The NHS usually plays a starring role in general elections. But in this one there’s more interest in hung Parliaments than health check-ups
In recent days there has been considerable interest in how public spending is spread around the UK, after David Cameron identified areas like Northern Ireland and the North East as having a public...
Leadership will be a crucial skill for local managers and politicians as the number of partnerships grows across the public services. Adopting the right behaviours is more important than applying...
University top-up fees were a very awkward electoral issue for the Labour government in the 2005 general election. So it is not surprising that in the present election campaign, fees have been kept...
As election fever grips the British public, or at least the press, it’s a case of another week, another public sector senior manager pay ‘scandal’. This weekend it was The Observer railing against ‘...
Unprotected services, which include social services, environmental provision, fire, arts, culture and libraries, transport and housing, can expect cuts of approaching 25%.
There were further signs of economic recovery in the private sector average earnings figures released by the Office for National Statistics on April 21
There are big opportunities to cut public spending without crippling our public services. Politicians need to tackle waste, eliminate duplication and decentralise.
Change. It’s what we all want, apparently. It’s the reason for a belated surge of interest in the election campaign, the eruption of Cleggmania, and a seismic shift in the polls.
