Author: Prof. Colin R Talbot

Professor of Government (Emeritus), University of Manchester Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge Judge Business School

We built the pyramids, we can do anything

I heard the above from a demonstrator in Cairo, which I think encapsulates the spirit of the Egyptian revolution. Continue reading “We built the pyramids, we can do anything” →

Supreme Autonomy?

The row that has erupted in Britain over the autonomy (or not) of the UK Supreme Court is an intriguing one. The President of the Court, Lord Phillips, has complained that the financial and administrative systems of the Court are too tied into the Ministry of Justice – for the full story see here – and this could undermine its independence. Continue reading “Supreme Autonomy?” →

Transparency, Localism and Hypocrisy

Complete transparency about anything Eric Pickles can think of that will grab a headline is the order of the day for local government. His latest wheeze is that any local government official earning more than £58,200 is to be named, individually, on-line.  Continue reading “Transparency, Localism and Hypocrisy” →

Whitehall Watchers – email and meetings

I have had lots of people interested in helping to expand Whitehall Watch, so I have set up an email list to enable us to stay in contact more easily. Continue reading “Whitehall Watchers – email and meetings” →

Who owns GP Consortia?

Pardon my ignorance, but I have been trying – and I confess failing – to try and get my head around a simple question: who owns (or rather will own) GP consortia? The legal status of these bodies may seem a bit pedantic, but it could have a fundamental affect on the dynamics of the New Model NHS. And finding out, from the 367 pages or whatever it is of the Health and Social Care Bill is nigh on impossible. Continue reading “Who owns GP Consortia?” →

Localisation and the Blame Game – heads we win, tails you lose

Andy Coulson may have gone, but the evidence of the spin-s dark arts at work permeates the Coalition government’s strategy. Before the election both Tories and Liberal Democrats made much of the fact they were going to be open and honest with voters about the effects of the cuts they were proposing (as opposed to Labour, and especially Gordon Brown, who were clearly in denial). Since the election, the tone has changed dramatically and now any cuts to ‘front-line’ services is clearly someone else’s incompetence and not the result of their dash to slash. Continue reading “Localisation and the Blame Game – heads we win, tails you lose” →

Wrong Sort of Snow on the Economy?

Today’s economic results were worse than anybody expected. The world economy is growing faster, and we are back into recession territory. And the Chancellor’s explanation – the wrong sort of snow. Continue reading “Wrong Sort of Snow on the Economy?” →

GP Consortia will cost more to run than PCTs?

A senior PCT manager writes to tell me that they have estimated that the new GP Consortia – costing about £25-£35 per patient to run – will mean between £7-£10m for their area, whilst the current PCT costs at most £7m. Continue reading “GP Consortia will cost more to run than PCTs?” →

10,000 Reasons for the Coalition to be Worried?

The Oldham and Saddleworth by-election is intersting for all sorts of reasons: the first since the general election; the first where two Coalition parties have fought each other (or not); the first sitting MP to be expelled by an Election Court for lying about an opponent (and let’s hope that doesn’t catch on or we’ll have no MPs left); and so on.

By-election results are most usually analysed by commentators in terms of “share of the vote” because they usually attract far fewer voters than a General Election – and indeed turnout was down from 61% to 48.6% since last May. But, and here the election is unusual, the fall in the vote is entirely accounted for by the fall in the votes of the two Coalition parties. Continue reading “10,000 Reasons for the Coalition to be Worried?” →