If there’s one thing I cannot fault the Tories for it’s their hatred of the state they are elected to serve. They loath its spending. It’s therefore curious to note the FT saying: George Osborne’s attempt to slash £11.5bn off public spending in election year has run into cabinet trouble, after ministers identified only £2.5bn in cuts
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I wrote this only a week or so ago, but it seems worth reiterating already: I have suggested on many occasions that what Labour needs to do if it is to win  a general election victory is to deliver a strong narrative that people can believe in. Candidly, I am bemused as to what is
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In the light of Ivan Horrocks article this morning this report from the FT is interesting: The attempt by Francis Maude, cabinet secretary, to inject commercial acumen into Whitehall by putting leading business figures on departmental boards is failing to live up to its billing, with some departments rarely consulting their external non-executive directors. The Treasury
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There have been about 9,600 entires on this blog in the last seven years. The vast majority have been written by me. But every now and then I make an exception to that rule. What follows has been written by Dr Ivan Horrocks of the Open University, whose comments here I have much appreciated and
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I have suggested on many occasions that what Labour needs to do if it is to turn limited electoral success in council elections into a general election victory is to deliver a strong narrative that people can believe in. Candidly, I am bemused as to what is quite so difficult about this. Whilst people are
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The is the South Shields election result:   And at present these are the council election results: I am not surprised by either. The Labour vote in South Shields stuck in proportionate terms when it should have increased. The Coalition was decimated. UKIP gained. Unsurprisingly, so too did Labour in council results where, also unsurprisingly, the Lib Dems have fared
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There's a long established principle in enlightened faith traditions of condemning the sin of a person and loving the sinner. I'm aware sin is a word many do not now embrace: if you think of it as missing the mark it's pretty close to what many will mean. Thatcher missed the mark in what she
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One of the most unusual moments during the Olympics was when the main stadium seemed, as a person, to boo George Osborne when he took part in a medal ceremony. I felt sorry for the athletes involved; their moment was a little overshadowed in many ways, I am sure. But the moment was telling; such
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