Maybe it was all a false alarm Yesterday, thinktank Reform had another go at rallying support for a serious package of fiscal salvation. Pointing out that current plans leave our overall indebtedness (debt-to-GDP ratio) rising for years - maybe decades - to come, they call for a bigger retrenchment than... Read more...
The Today programme carried an interesting piece this morning on the effects of target driven outputs in the NHS. In an attempt to make emergency treatment in hospitals a priority, a 4 hour treatment target has put almost unbearable pressure on some A&E departments and clinical staff. This was summed... Read more...
Policy Exchange have an excellent new report by Andrew Lilico and Hiba Sameen out today on how taxes affect economic growth. Some of the results they've produced with the Oxford Economics model - chosen because it is a lot like the Treasury one - are a bit implausible, as the... Read more...
I sometimes think that there's a chance Rod Liddle may become so contrarian that one day he ends up exactly where he started, in a bid to shock himself. Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of contrarianism, of course - and Rod is one of its greatest exponents. However, on... Read more...
I don’t remember much of 1979. At the time of the general election I was eight years old, but I do remember the images of rubbish piled up in the street, and I remember Margaret Thatcher on the steps of 10 Downing Street. That’s about it. The rest of my... Read more...
Don't you believe it Whoever wins the election will have to tackle the pressing issue of public sector pay. At a time of grave fiscal crisis, with taxes rising and private sector pay under the cosh, the current arrangements are simply not sustainable. Discussions in this area tend to generate... Read more...
The scale of the fiscal crisis means that there should and will be public spending cuts. But there are also billions of pounds to be saved through efficiency measures. The Institute of Directors (IoD) have today released research that says £25 billion a year can be saved through restructuring public... Read more...
Ex-Commons Speaker Michael Martin is no stranger to TPA criticism or public outrage. To be fair, that is largely because he is no stranger to doing extremely foolish or craven things that harm the rest of us. It is of course an absolute travesty that this man whose arrogance and... Read more...
I disagree with a large part of Anatole Kaletsky's article in the Times this morning. He argues that the Government's crass Keynesianism has worked. I think that's hard to justify when we are having such an anaemic recovery. Sure the unemployment figures aren't as bad as many people thought they... Read more...
We’ve said repeatedly that the constant changes in the machinery of Government are obstructive to good policy-making. The National Audit Office (NAO) today says that 90 of these reorganisations of central Government happened between 2005 and 2009. Many of our past reports have cited this as a reason why Government... Read more...
Just over a year ago, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council awarded large inflation busting rises for senior staff. The rationale was it would encourage those officers to stay with the council and encourage others to join the merry-go-round and move to East Yorkshire. Just over a year later,... Read more...
We’ve had some sterling contenders again for this week’s (belated) non-job, and many thanks to those of you who’ve sent in candidates for this dubious weekly accolade. If anyone does come across a pointless, questionable or needlessly costly vacancy supported by the public purse then please do email over the... Read more...
A call to cut the number of beds and possibly shut hospitals to save money was always going to be controversial. Taxpayers will think that if they are ill, a bed should be there for them in their local hospital. This is true – it absolutely should be. But Reform’s... Read more...
It's been a great few days in the debate over public spending with the unions. Since UNISON launched their video suggesting any spending cuts would mean there'd be no one left to answer 999 calls or treat patients, and we then launched our spoof featuring numerous non-jobs, it's been fascinating... Read more...
The new release from the Office for National Statistics Labour Market Survey shows that the unemployment count is down, that's good news. But where is that good news coming from if our export and manufacturing performance is weak? Looking at the ONS release in more detail, at the breakdown between... Read more...
There’s been much criticism of Birmingham City Council’s use of consultants of late, with education director Heather Tomlinson commanding £1,000 per day and Terry Brownhill – the spin doctor brought in to manage the authority’s public image in the wake of the Khyra Ishaq tragedy – also earning some £850... Read more...
The Public Administration Select Committee today released a report called Too Many Ministers? Well, the short answer is yes. The Committee found that: “The ever-upward trend in the size of government over the last hundred years or more is striking and hard to justify objectively in the context of the... Read more...
Most motorists dread the trip to the pumps to watch the pounds shoot up on the counter, compared to the snail-like pace of litres used. That feeling will get even worse as the price of petrol hits 120p a litre nationwide, as is expected in the next few days.120p a... Read more...
Unite, the union formed from a merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers Union, is at the centre of a political storm. The BBC report that the Prime Minister has described the strike as "unjustified and deplorable" and the Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, has said "passengers should not... Read more...
Here’s another one in the ‘you couldn’t make it up’ category. This year is the 25th anniversary of Philip Larkin’s death. Why we want to celebrate someone’s death is something that has always puzzled me, but leaving this aside, Hull and the Philip Larkin Society want to do something ‘Larkin-esque’... Read more...
Paul Krugman, in the New York Times, argues that China's manipulation of its currency should be tackled by imposing a 25 per cent tariff on their goods until they revalue their currency, the renminbi: "But if sweet reason won’t work, what’s the alternative? In 1971 the United States dealt with... Read more...
Maggie Atkinson thrust herself into the limelight this weekend with a controversially timed call to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. She was instantly shot down by the Ministry of Justice, and roundly criticised for her suggestion. The Children’s Commissioner was not so much appointed by... Read more...
Public sector efficiency experts on the job As they keep reminding us, the government's fiscal strategy is to halve the deficit by 2013-14. In Mr Darling's words: "Backed by legislation... the Government will ensure public sector net borrowing, as a share of GDP, falls every year and is more than halved by... Read more...
This morning, the Times reports on the Department of Energy and Climate Change's refusal to answer our Freedom of Information request for their estimate of the cost of meeting a target of a 42% cut in emissions by 2020. In December, TPA research revealed the enormous potential cost of... Read more...