A deep-rooted fear of upsetting the “consensus” on the NHS lies at the heart of the pervasive care scandals and cover-ups that are now seeing the light of day. The British health system is producer-led by design. Over the past 30 years successive governments have offered small elements of consumerism in order to maintain the… [Read More]
Economist and respected Telegraph columnist Roger Bootle has cited Civitas author John Mills in his latest piece, arguing that the value of the pound must fall further if Britain is to achieve a sustainable recovery. Bootle writes that ‘recovery is in the air’ but worries it will be an ‘unattractive’ and ‘unsustainable’ one based on… [Read More]
The King’s Fund have published a very interesting summary of the differences between the UK’s four health services, which have diverged in their management styles since 1999 due to devolution. Some variances, such as the lack of prescription fees outside of England, are well-known, but there are also more fundamental divides – as I have… [Read More]
So argues Dr David Conway, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Civitas, on the Library of Law and Liberty website. Dr Conway highlights how the German government has resorted to promoting lignite (brown coal), ‘the most unhealthy fossil fuel of all’, to make up for the ‘energy vacuum’ created when Chancellor Merkel announced the end of… [Read More]
Last month, protests in Istanbul that started off as an environmentalist movement against government plans to build a shopping mall in a park erupted into nationwide anti-government protests after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s disproportionately heavy-handed response resulted in at least 4 deaths and 5,000 injuries. The protests spread to 40 of Turkey’s cities and… [Read More]
The unemployment headlines miss two big stories. The labour market continues to expand for women and for workers 65 and above.
‘Industrial policy’ is back in vogue. Organisations like the CBI, who only a few years ago would have dismissed it as anachronistic socialism, are now all in favour. However, the industrial policies of the 1970s, now remembered as abject failures, still cast a long shadow over current debate. One example above all crops up again… [Read More]
Last week health journalist John Lister wrote an article in Open Democracy entitled ‘The neoliberal epidemic striking healthcare’, in which he critiques the use of “market-style” reforms in healthcare, both in the UK and abroad (he has also released a full book on the subject, Global Health Versus Private Profit). While he makes some valid… [Read More]
Too many EU commentators just preach to their respective choirs The fact, timeline and nature of Britain’s membership of the European Union looks set to be a major political issue for the foreseeable future – certainly through the European elections (22-25 May 2014) and the next general election, quite possibly up to a referendum. James… [Read More]
By David Conway, visiting senior research fellow at Civitas Germany’s renewables energy sector is busy cleaning up these days, commercially-speaking that is, not in terms of environmental impact. So far as that goes, Germany’s much vaunted green revolution has been nothing short of disastrous. As its heavily subsidized wind-farms and solar panels mushroom, so Germany’s… [Read More]