Enabling communities to thrive: embedding social value locally

28^th April 2015

Whatever the outcome of the election, the challenge for any incoming government is clear. We need to find more effective ways to deliver public services that maximise the benefits to local communities, prevent problems and reduce future demand on services.

Community + Devolution + Localism + public services + social value + society

The Crown and Social Value

27^th April 2015

One of the more intriguing ideas to emerge from Cabinet Office under the Coalition government has been the resurrection of the concept of ‘The Crown’. Of course we’ve heard the rhetoric of joined-up government for decades now.

Community + Devolution + Localism + public services + social value + society

Labour’s Manifesto: A more radical vision is needed

15^th April 2015

There are two valid criticisms of Labour’s manifesto. One mentioned by a Labour loyalist friend of mine who tweeted ‘Labour should have produced a shiny looking short-form manifesto alongside the real thing’.

Blue Labour + General Election 2015 + Labour Party + Manifesto + Red Tory

Labour needs simple answers to complicated questions

22^nd January 2015

What do a rock concert and a leftie conference have in common? Not much, except for ageing men nostalgic for their younger years and a chronic inability to keep to schedule.

Decentralisation + Devolution + Ed Miliband + Labour Party + Media + Tax + The Fabian Society

Nothing in life is free – not even the NHS

9^th January 2015

It’s that time of year, when rising demand meets NHS spending limits. Why has this become such an annual – and unwelcome – winter event? The NHS raises passions like no other state organisation in the world.

NHS

Is Social Conservatism Conservative?

5^th January 2015

This article originally appeared in December 2014 in Comment Magazine, published by CARDUS: www.cardus.ca. At first sight and on primordial prejudice, social conservatism is coded as a right-wing, sectarian position focused obsessively on marriage, the nuclear family, and abortion.

The emerging intergenerational pay gap

21^st December 2014

After last week’s Autumn Budget Statement a number of news articles reported on the growing evidence that pensioners are actually fairly well-off these days. This is a bit of shock to someone my age (just turned 60): all my life I’ve been accustomed to viewing the elderly as generally impoverished and precariously vulnerable to the slings and arrows of financial fortune.

Austerity’s second dimension: why fiscal sustainability requires more than cuts

20^th December 2014

How should public borrowing evolve over the years to come? Ensuring the sustainability of public spending is essential to intergenerational fairness, since otherwise today’s young people will pay for the advantages enjoyed by current generations while receiving none of these opportunities themselves.

Are young people being short-changed over pensions?

19^th December 2014

Pensions are inherently an intergenerational issue. To a greater or lesser extent, all the different types of pension scheme rely on one generation making a claim upon the productivity of the next one.

Will Age Decide the 2015 Election?

18^th December 2014

The 2015 General Election will be fascinating on many levels, not least because of the emergence of the UKIP vote. However, there are other factors that could affect the election result more profoundly, among them – most notably from an intergenerational point of view – voter age and cohort size.