This has been the first full year for this blog. In early November I moved over from wordpress.com, which led to a bit of disruption. But we’re now back to previous levels of traffic. I’ve put my best arithmetic hat on to work out which are the top […]
You get the sense that the fashion for political party leaders sending New Year messages to supporters and party members isn’t one that will endure. Or at least it probably shouldn’t. Dan Hodges in the Telegraph yesterday speculated on whether Ed Miliband had been captured by aliens and […]
Here’s something slightly different. Many bloggers post a list of their top posts for the year. I plan to do so. But I was just as interested in reflecting on what I read as what I write. I’ve got a stinking cold at the moment so as I […]
What do we want from a government? Not in terms of the substance of policy but in the way it goes about its business. At a minimum we might reasonably expect competence. And we’d want it to play by the rules. We’d want a government to follow due […]
Early next year we will be debating the biggest question facing local democracy in our area. If Bristolians vote for a mayor in May 2012 it will surely be the most profound change in local government since the county of Avon was abolished when I was a young […]
[Originally posted at the Guardian Housing Network, 18/12/11] If the government finally accepts that fiscal consolidation, even when coupled with quantitative easing, is not a policy that can deliver adequate economic growth, what might a credible plan B look like? A recent report for Shelter made the case […]
That is how Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, described the theft of public art and metal. He was referring to the theft of Barbara Hepworth’s bronze Two Forms (Divided Circle) from Dulwich Park. The assumption is that it will be sold for scrap. […]
The speech on the open society Nick Clegg gave at Demos yesterday started with a brilliant encapsulation of the problems facing our society: But our politics and economy are distorted by unaccountable hoards of power, wealth and influence: media moguls; dodgy lobbyists corrupting our politics; irresponsible bankers taking […]
[Originally posted at Dale&Co, 13/12/11] The publication last week of the 2010 British Social Attitudes report made the headlines because it seemed to indicate that the British population is becoming increasingly self-reliant, self-centred or selfish – depending on your perspective – and more inclined to see poverty and […]
What on earth will it take to improve the regulation of letting and managing agents operating in the private rented sector? Last week the Resolution Foundation reported on a small scale mystery shopper exercise in three English cities. The findings were useful, but hardly surprising. The key findings […]
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