I am asking this question to myself and others for a variety of reasons – mainly in trying to at least get a rough idea of ‘who shapes policy’ in the UK. Watch this space for future posts on this topic. Continue reading “How big is the “policy community” in the UK?” →

The usually erudite and accurate William Keegan published an article in the Observer entitled ‘Elections pick losers, not winners. Cameron deserves to lose.’ I’ll leave the second sentence and concentrate on the first, because in the article Bill goes on to say:

“Memories of prewar unemployment and the social insensitivity of the Tories were enough to drive Churchill out in 1945. But in 1951, having achieved much in a period when austerity was necessary and not a political stratagem, the Attlee government was tired and it was “time for a change”.” (my emphasis added).

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this statement, or something very much like it, in the past – and it’s wrong. Continue reading “Who ‘wins’ British Elections?” →

If ever there was an example of a policy that appears to be driven exclusively by narrow, tactical, political considerations it is Labour’s pledge to cut student tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000.

It will produce the opposite of its supposed intention: being fairer to poorer students/graduates. It is ill thought out in terms of University financing. It reduces to almost zero competition on price amongst Universities (one of the main reasons for introducing supposedly variable tuition fees). It is an administrative nightmare. Continue reading “Labour’s Tutition Fees Blunder?” →

[Originally posted on Manchester Policy Blogs/Whitehall Watch]

‘Mayors’ seem to have become the default answer of many in the political elite to the problems of local government and governance in the UK, or more specifically England. Linked to the idea of ‘English devolution’ as a answer to Scottish ‘home rule’ this has become a heady brew. But maybe it’s time to ask some sober questions about this project of ‘Devo Manc’, at least in terms of the proposed system of government for Manchester.

My argument is, simply put:

• elected mayors are based on assumptions about what Archie Brown has called ‘the myth of the strong leader’;
• they are a ‘presidential’ style of government that is ill-suited to our ‘parliamentary’ political tradition, especially at local government level;
• in Manchester specifically it risks undermining the delicate balance that has been so successful with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority;
• its’ imposition without a referendum is a fundamental error by the political elite that may well backfire.

Continue reading “A Mayor for All Seasons?” →

Given Labour’s announcement today that it will carry out a review of HMRC if elected in May, I thought it might be useful to publish this little paper I wrote about the creation of HMRC for an IPPR seminar 10 years ago. It will be useful background for all those out there trying to understand how HMRC got to where it is today. The final section about ‘challenges’ facing the merged organisation has turned out to be reasonably prophetic. Continue reading “The Creation of HMRC from Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise – Double Trouble?” →

My colleague Dave Richards and Martin Smith have just published an excellent piece in The Political Quarterly attacking what they call the ‘demand side’ explanation for the declining engagement in party and formal politics – falling turnout, declining party membership, falling big party share of the vote, rise of insurgent ‘anti-politics’ parties like UKIP, etc.

The ‘demand siders’ essentially blame the electorate, who have been affected by socio-cultural changes like ‘click and collect’ instant gratification and rampant individualism to demand more and more from our political system whilst being unwilling to foot the bill. This creates an ‘expectations gap’ which politicians can’t possibly fill in a world of scarce resources and hard choices, but that doesn’t stop the people blaming the politicians and ‘the system’ or ‘the establishment’, however unfair that may be. Matthew Flinders, for example, goes so far as to call the electorate ‘decadent’ in their expectations. Continue reading “Breaking the Democratic Ties That Bind Us?” →

Did Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council need sorting out? Almost certainly. Was Louise Casey the right person to do it? Also almost certainly not. The result might be right, but the way it has been achieved is just as much an example of maladministration as what’s happened at Rotherham, even if the consequences are less devastating. And if this “process” is allowed to stand English Local Government as a whole will come to regret it. Continue reading “Louise Casey “decks” Rotherham MBC – is this really the way to do it?” →

Stefan Czerniawski, who goes under the blog name “Public Strategist”, has written a rather ill-informed and intemperate attack on a report we have just published based purely on the use of the term “Sir Humphrey” in the title. Continue reading “What’s in a name? Rather too much for some people, apparently (Sir Humphrey and the Professors).” →