Archive for October, 2010
A better direction for NHS commissioning?
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 29/10/2010
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 Coalition Government’s White Paper on the NHS with the proposed move from PCTs to GP consortia. The evidence, in other words, doesn’t provide much in the way of support for the reforms to commissioning: reforms that are likely to be costly with uncertain outcomes.
When I hear the word culture, I reach for my wallet
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in Economics, Family, Marriage and the Culture, Politics on 28/10/2010
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 as a product and the latter through understating its value. In the so-called ‘Age of Austerity’, it appears that culture has stopped being a priceless necessity and become just another luxury good that can be accrued or done without. Read the rest of this entry »
EU deploys RABIT-s to Greek border
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union, Human Rights, Immigration on 27/10/2010
A UN investigation into Greece’s detention facilities has highlighted severe failings, writes Natalie Hamill. Critics say this situation has arisen because the EU leaves Greece to shoulder the majority of the burden of EU immigration. The UN’s findings have prompted the deployment of the EU’s first ever Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT-s) to assist at Greece’s border with Turkey, but should the EU be doing more?
More rights for the individual… or the EU?
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, European Union on 26/10/2010
In a written ministerial statement, the Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke announced yesterday that the Government has decided to ‘opt-in’ to the European Directive on the Right to Information in Criminal Proceedings. Whilst its central, rights-enhancing tenet may be laudable, the directive represents a worrying creep of European control into domestic criminal procedure, and is the first of a catalogue of similar measures the Government is now politically obligated to adopt, writes Carolina Bracken.
And the winner is…. competition?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Tax and Spend on 25/10/2010
In his speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today, David Cameron promised government support for ‘those industries where Britain enjoys competitive advantage’ . He also stated that ‘I believe in competition… I believe when new entrants challenge big business, everyone wins’ . This latter point about competition – having faith in the market – has traditionally distinguished centre-right parties from those on the left who have traditionally favoured a greater degree of state intervention. The former point, however, concerning government support for industry, is traditionally associated more with left-wing economic policy.
EU Treaty amendments proposed less than a year after Lisbon is implemented
Posted by Claire Daley in Economics, European Union on 21/10/2010
In response to the economic crisis, France and Germany are keen to push through changes to the Lisbon Treaty, writes Natalie Hamill. In an effort to develop a ‘more lasting mechanism’ to deal with instability in the Eurozone, Germany and France are promoting plans that would pave the way for a fixed system to respond to future Eurozone problems. However, the proposed plan raises many questions about how (and if) treaties could be amended.