US Democrats have more voters on their side
3 October 2013Since more people voted for Democrat representatives than for Republican, the Democrats are to blame if Obamacare goes ahead but the Republicans are to blame if they stop it.
The Blog
Regional banks could be a real Help to Buy
2 October 2013Mortgage is believed to come from the Old French ‘Mort’ and ‘gage’, literally “dead pledge”, to signify a loan which ended upon full repayment or when payment failed. Today, it could be better interpreted as a pledge to ‘pay until death’ with an ever-increasing gap between house prices and wages. Help to Buy is no… [Read More]
Conferences, cancer drugs & competition – new NHS developments
1 October 2013The Liberal Democrats and Labour have each now held their autumn conferences. Lib Dem Care Minister Norman Lamb led a debate on “Dignity at Home: Transforming Home Care” and, encouragingly, stated he had no “philosophical position about who provides care” in the NHS – a March 2013 Civitas poll suggested the public may share this… [Read More]
Blackouts? The EU’s already freezing
30 September 2013At the Labour party conference last week, Ed Milliband promised that, if elected in 2015, he would freeze energy prices for 20 months. This promise, worth around £120 per household, prompted cautious optimism from the left, who are focusing on the ‘price of living crisis’, and scorn from much of the centre and right.
Norway’s elections: a shift to the right
27 September 2013After two terms in power, Norway’s centre-left red-green coalition were defeated in the elections this week, making way for a new conservative government. Erna Solberg’s Conservative Party won 96 out of 169 seats in parliament, and is looking to set up a right-wing coalition with the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Progress Party.
Tackling the crisis of accountability in the NHS: give patients a role in commissioning
The need for democratisation and accountability has long been a topic of debate in the NHS, and such discussion has only grown since the introduction of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) earlier this year, in which GPs are expected to indirectly represent the interests of their patients in the commissioning process. In light of this, Anton… [Read More]
Immigration statistics and the UK census
26 September 2013Without a universal census to provide a scale, sample surveys can only provide a proportion, not a total, whether the issue is schools, health or migration.
German election shapes the future of Social Health Insurance
24 September 2013Over the weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian Democratic/Social Union (CDU/CSU) secured 41.5% of the vote in the German elections, but she fell short of a majority and her classical liberal allies the Free Democrats (FDP) failed to get into the Bundestag, meaning a minority government or a ‘grand coalition’ between Merkel… [Read More]
The Swiss show the way on exchange rate targeting
In his forthcoming Civitas publication, A Competitive Pound for a Stronger Economy, John Mills reiterates the case for an exchange rate target to boost British manufacturing and the economy as a whole. Some may object: is John’s case based purely on theoretical speculation? Is an exchange rate target the sort of issue that a select… [Read More]
UKIP – moderates in disguise?
23 September 2013UKIP supporters have probably had a week to forget, after Godfrey Bloom MEP referred to a room full of women looking to engage in politics as ‘sluts’, then refused to discuss the all-white cover of a UKIP brochure, and finally struck C4’s Michael Crick with said brochure. Bloom, who was UKIP’s defence spokesman, has attracted… [Read More]