The perils of managing a dual identity
19 December 2013Mixed race people suffer more from personal crimes. What are the implications for national identity?
2013
How Australia can help London’s housing troubles
18 December 2013The accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young released a report on Monday with intriguing findings on foreign ownership of UK property. The headline statistic was that the number of foreign based landlords with rental properties in the UK has now surpassed 2 million for the first time. In 2006/7 there were 1,460,000; in just five years… [Read More]
New report on healthcare: could Ireland’s emerging healthcare reforms hold lessons for the UK?
17 December 2013The NHS’s founding mission to provide quality care for all regardless of ability to pay remains as crucial today as it was when it was founded 65 years ago. However, in 2013 the service has faced challenges in terms of accountability, rationing and outcomes, and looking abroad remains a valuable way to gain inspiration and… [Read More]
Theresa May’s 75,000 migrant cap might undermine pro-migrant arguments
16 December 2013In late November I dissected David Cameron’s plans for restricting EU migrant benefits and rights, calling them ‘old, wrong or useless’. Over 70 Conservatives have signed a proposal defying European law to retain migration controls. This led the government to delay the Immigration Bill so rebels cannot humiliate the government or raise anti-Romanian/Bulgarian amendments before… [Read More]
Wrong signs in the NHS allocation formula
14 December 2013Mervyn Stone provides more evidence why allocations of health-service money need to be better understood.
Trafficking and slavery: Europe policing sexual morality
13 December 2013Sex work has always been a complicated topic in politics and law. The issues are more complex now than ever due to the intersecting scourges of trafficking and modern slavery. Britain is bound by the 2011 Anti-Trafficking Directive which insists governments reduce demand for exploitation and abuse. France has just passed, and Ireland is considering, the ‘Nordic… [Read More]
British life is best, if you like that sort of thing
12 December 2013According to the OECD Better Life Index, life in Britain is better than anywhere else in the developed world. There is more than a little exaggeration in that statement. The OECD has made its index flexible, so that anyone can weight it to suit what matters most to them. If what matters is putting the… [Read More]
South African democracy needs another renewal
11 December 2013The end of apartheid ended decades of sanctions against South Africa. The National Party, which ruled South Africa from 1948 until 1994 and introduced apartheid, segregated the country from the world as well as its people. When Mandela entered office in 1994, South Africa was emerging from three years of deep recession. Since then, South… [Read More]
NHS rationing growing, Dr Foster has found
10 December 2013Dr Foster Intelligence, which provides information on NHS performance, released its Hospital Guide 2013 yesterday. Among their findings was evidence of increased rationing of key cataract, knee and hip operations – Dr Foster found numbers of operations performed each year has levelled off or fallen very slightly since 2010, breaking from a previous long-term trend… [Read More]
Kiev rocks as WTO rolls out $1tn deal
9 December 2013Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tavricheski was a favourite of Empress Catherine, the Russian leader who brought about the golden age of expansion in the eighteenth century. After the annexation of Ukraine and the Crimea, Catherine appointed Grigory as governor-general of the new provinces with orders to modernise and rebuild the war-torn region. Unfortunately Grigory wasn’t very good… [Read More]