To use a quote of unknown origin, ‘Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something’. This principle certainly applies to the NHS in its current drive to become more efficient. Today, the Government published a report on an investigation led by Lord Patrick Carter into hospital ‘productivity’. This report’s findings represent the results of… [Read More]
Britain’s economic recovery has been driven by a resurgent London. In place of the financial collapse came the ‘Flat White Economy‘, spurred by highly skilled immigrants and in-migrants coming to work in London’s digital technology and creative sectors – estimated to make up a third of UK growth. While the surge is welcome, it has… [Read More]
‘A European Union without Turkey at its heart is not stronger but weaker… not more secure but less… not richer but poorer… I’m here to make the case for Turkey’s membership of the EU. And to fight for it.’ – David Cameron, July 2010. During an address to the Turkish parliament, Cameron promised to ‘pave… [Read More]
The European Court of Justice has ruled against the UK’s policy of reducing tax rates for certain energy-saving materials. To encourage energy efficiency in the UK, there is a tax rate of 5% when certain energy-saving products, including solar panels, draught insulation, and controls for central heating and hot water systems, are installed in homes.… [Read More]
Emmanuel Macron and Sigmar Gabriel, the economics ministers for France and Germany, have co-authored an article setting out their vision for dramatically extending the eurozone’s integration. For those reformists and sceptics considering David Cameron’s renegotiation ending in a ‘two-speed Europe’, this is very much the higher gear. The ministers’ proposals amount to much greater social,… [Read More]
There is a cruel irony in the government’s decision to abolish the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee (PCRSC), the body responsible for holding the executive to account on democratic representation, especially in the year we celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. Apart from being another insult to the Liberal Democrat’s legacy, the move has… [Read More]
Recent ‘horror stories’, such as doctors being paid £3,500 for a single shift, have prompted the government to announce today that it will clamp down on staffing agencies that are ‘ripping off the NHS’. It will do this, it says, by setting maximum hourly pay rates for the employment of temporary staff, by setting limits… [Read More]
It is widely agreed that the NHS must change from an organisation that largely treats disease, to one which strives to prevent it. It is further agreed that prevention can best be facilitated in the community. Communities contain a plethora of non health related institutions which play a prominent role in an individual’s home, emotional… [Read More]
“Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?” As Downing Street just confirmed that this will be the question posed to voters in the EU referendum before tabling the bill, it raises questions over whether the wording matters. Unlike countries such as Switzerland, where referendums are held so frequently that the electorate may… [Read More]
International tax avoidance and tax planning, where companies lower their tax base by changing domicile, is a vexing issue. Multinationals like Amazon, Starbucks, Google, and Apple have all been accused of not paying their fair share. According to Forbes, Apple ‘claims tax residence nowhere.’ The complicity of countries like Luxembourg, where the LuxLeaks scandal last November… [Read More]