With the turmoil that engulfed the global financial system in 2008, a few financial actors have, at one time or another, borne the brunt of the public’s anger. Bankers and hedge-fund managers have been widely criticised. Speculators, however, have been the target of recent outrage.
During Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to China, big names in British industry have been publicising the achievements that they hope the trip will deliver. One such voice is that of Sir Anthony Bamford, the chairman of JCB who has called for stricter measures to be taken against ‘unscrupulous Far Eastern competitors’ that exploit Western… [Read More]
The Court of Auditors has refused to sign off the EU accounts for yet another year, making this the 16th year in a row that the EU accounts have failed to receive a clean bill of health, writes Natalie Hamill. This year’s report found discrepancies in 90% of last year’s EU budget, and yet the… [Read More]
This makes me laugh… a foundation trust that is prepared to think outside the box. An innovation: putting cancer patients up in hotels, rather than in hospitals: saving some £200 a night, dramatically improving patient experience, no doubt reducing the chance of catching some nasty infection and, from reports of consultants there (to me, admittedly)… [Read More]
Today David Cameron promised to end the era of ‘bureaucratic accountability’ and usher in the era of ‘democratic accountability’. From an era with a bureaucracy held to account by the government for meeting targets to an era where the bureaucracy is held to account by ‘the people’ who monitor its progress in moving towards ‘milestones’.
The final outcome of the Browne Review should please no one. The universities themselves are going to face a far tougher time, tutors can no longer be assured of their value and woe betide anyone wanting to do a ‘socially useless’ humanities degree. This time, government really has gone too far.
The Sunday Times (pay only), we learn via Peter Risdon, has a report about 6th formers having to apply for Criminal Record Bureau checks to attend college courses. Some have been refused on the basis of minor offences (such as shoplifting) committed when they were children. This is another illustration of what Frank Furedi and… [Read More]
Today the government outlined a number of measures to help small and medium sized businesses. Wanting to create an ‘entrepreneurial decade’ David Cameron has asked Lord Young to carry out a ‘brutally’ honest investigation into how small and medium sized businesses can be supported by removing burdensome regulations and opening up public procurement opportunities. Such… [Read More]
Yesterday, Civitas, in conjunction with the Manchester Business School, published this report, looking at the relationship between the size and performance of commissioners in the NHS. It found none, although both the domestic and international trend is towards larger commissioners, covering larger populations: the direct opposite to what is likely to happen under the… [Read More]
This has not been a good week for culture. A pincer movement has been occurring, with rumours that the state of Qatar is looking to buy Christie’s, and the decimation of the Arts Council. While of course unrelated, both have the potential to undermine Britain’s status as a cultural standard-bearer, the former through over-emphasising culture… [Read More]