Despite talk of the ‘danger’ of a hung Parliament, a combined government with some 60% of the vote would have more legitimacy than one with a slim majority
ROBERT CHOTE and CARL EMMERSON The Conservative manifesto did not tell us anything about their tax and spending plans we did not already know. In particular, it was no more explicit about how much...
The British used to be known for their modesty and reticence on pay: it was something we didn't talk about, not like those brash Americans with their bonuses and the extrovert Scandinavians with...
The key question for the next Government is what size and combination of public spending cuts and tax increases to implement to repair our public finances. Anyone looking for a more detailed answer...
Whichever party wins the next election, UK political culture is likely to maintain the drive for departmental or public body restructures to gain real or perceived efficiency. However, as the recent...
The Liberal Democrats have, once again, claimed that the poor pay more of their income in tax than the rich, and that this gap has got larger under Labour. But, by ignoring the fact that the poor get...
It’s easy to misrepresent Cameron’s commitments in today’s Guardian – on enforced pay ratios in the public sector – as simply an attack on public servants
While they should really be facing charges of crimes against humanity for the global misery they have inflicted, banks and business leaders instead continue
As the political debate intensifies and the electoral battle commences, it is increasingly unclear how the result of the general election will affect our public services, what the impact will be and...
General elections used to be about big political issues: war, poverty, welfare, that kind of thing. This one is different. The outcome of the contest on May 6 will be settled by the sort of questions...
Cutting staff might seem an easy way to reduce council spending but it can cost more than it saves, says Andrew Jepp in the latest of PF’s occasional series of sponsored columns
Labour may have been in power for 13 years, the country may be fed up of the same old faces but the party’s election manifesto, hammered out by one of Labour’s most interesting new figures, Ed...
The opinion polls give a mixed picture: Labour stalwarts may prefer ICM’s 4-point Tory lead in the Guardian to YouGov’s 10-point advantage in The Sun. But both suggest a tighter result than the 15-20...
MARK HELLOWELL l The creation of Infrastructure UK last summer barely scratched the surface of popular attention, but was arguably one of the more significant policy moves of recent years. IUK's...
Although public sector organisations have had months to prepare for the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which begins today, it seems that about two-thirds are currently misstating their carbon numbers...
COLIN TALBOT l The first Efficiency Wars occurred in 2004, in the run-up to the last General Election the following year. Labour’s Gershon £21.5bn was pitted against
The government's report on Total Place is a clear commitment to greater localism and there is now an opportunity for revolutionary change. The challenge for local government and its leaders will be...
