Claims by both sides of the fiery debate on US health system reform are clouded in ideology and misrepresentation. Democrats are demanding free health care for all as quickly as possible, providing only vague solutions for addressing the inevitably enormous costs of such a system change, while republicans are crying that reform will spark transformation… [Read More]
This week the Times Educational Supplement has produced a baffling report on the nascent changes to emotional skills programmes at primary level. Modelled on ‘the straight-talking business world’ this incentive is dubbed SUMO – ‘Shut Up and Move On’ – and is fast becoming a permutation of the government’s ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Education’ directive.… [Read More]
Last week, when discussing the quality of care provided by ISTCs in relation to a briefing issued by the BMA, a run-through of value for money was promised. So here goes.
Four years ago David Cameron announced his intention to leave the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) – the largest group in the European Parliament – and form a new centre-right group in 2009, writes Ariane Poulain, which would specifically oppose the EPP’s pro-European stance. Bucking the EU trend of rhetorical talk and no action, the… [Read More]
Twelve years of incessant meddling by the Government with education has failed to improve the chances of pupils at ‘bog-standard’ comprehensives gaining sufficiently good A level grades to satisfy the entry requirements of the country’s better universities. So, now Lord Mandelson has seemingly set his sights on these universities agreeing to lower their entry requirements… [Read More]
England’s 115 foundation trust hospitals have been told by Monitor, the organisation responsible for their regulation, that the three-year budget forecasts they submitted are overly optimistic, considering the NHS’s tightened funding in the coming years. They have now been given until the end of September to re-submit their financial plans.
This week Key Stage 2 (KS2) Sats have, once again, been under close scrutiny. The Times Educational Supplement (TES) today reported that ‘National test results for 11 year-olds have remained largely static’ though the Guardian has gone for a more hard-line ‘record drop in English results – a quarter leave primary school unable to read and write properly’.
A few weeks ago now the BMA launched a campaign to end market-based reform in the NHS. Their vision: the NHS ‘restored as a public service working co-operatively for patients’, that is publicly funded through central taxes, publicly provided and publicly accountable. Ok. Very good. It’s a nice idea, but we should also remember why… [Read More]
Once upon a time, Turkey decided it would like to join an attractive little club known as the EEC, writes Nicola Di Luzio. First it was rejected outright. Then, the club realised it could use membership as a carrot to encourage reform and friendly relations, so it waved membership under the country’s nose… for fifty… [Read More]
This week sees another set of venerable institutions, long enfeebled by years of over-indulgence at the public trough, singled out by Parliament, if not exactly for euthanasia, then for slow asphyxiation by ever tighter state-regulation.