Lord Ashcroft’s latest poll shows the Tories have a 5% boost (to 33%, Lab 31%), which pundits are calling the ‘Juncker Jump’, a response to David Cameron’s brave but doomed last stand against the Commission Presidential candidate. In reality, it is more likely to be an anomaly – last Sunday’s Survation poll (Conservatives 27%, Labour… [Read More]
The apposition of the words ‘crisis’ and ‘NHS’ is now so frequent that it is apt to become a cliché. Indeed, in the word-processing software of many subeditors, the phrase “NHS in Crisis as…” is automatically inserted into every headline. And yet, there is good news! A recent Commonwealth Fund study has ranked the UK… [Read More]
Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander claimed this week that 3.3 million jobs in the UK are connected to Britain’s continued membership of the EU. There was some briefing to the press that this assertion was based on a new Treasury analysis, though nothing has been published and so yet again we… [Read More]
Studies great and small continue to show good results from school discipline.
Soft power can be a watery and abstract element of UK policy and diplomacy, but we take it seriously. There’s even a Lords Select Committee to keep track of and promote UK ‘influence’. The Committee recently published a paper ‘Power and Persuasion and Power in the Modern World’, which tracked the shifting importance of ‘power… [Read More]
Britain is currently fighting blunt tooth and broken nail to block Jean-Claude Juncker’s promotion to European Commission President. For David Cameron’s substantial EU reform ambitions he needs all the allies, goodwill and bargaining chips he can get his hands on, and he needs them with both member states’ leaders and whoever tops the Brussels machine.… [Read More]
It’s been an odd week for Spain, with the juxtaposition of another horrendous defeat in the World Cup on Wednesday and the coronation of new King Felipe VI on Thursday. After the reigning champions from the 2010 World Cup lost 2-0 to Chile, thousands of Spaniards gathered outside the Royal Palace in Madrid the following… [Read More]
Matching Westminster’s standard of flood protection in the rest of Britain will be an expensive business.
Today’s Times front page carries the story that nurses are in favour of introducing a ten pound charge (£) to see GPs, reporting that they are ‘joining a growing number of voices who say that a cash crisis means desperate measures must be considered. They urged politicians to say how they plan to pay for… [Read More]
This May Vermont state passed a law requiring labels on foods with genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients. ‘Big Food’ lobby organisations claim this requirement contradicts the American constitution by forcing speech requirements and restrictions. Producers will be unable to say GMO food is ‘natural’, ‘naturally grown’ or ‘all natural’. Farming associations argue labelling costs will… [Read More]