Greece has now taken over the rotating EU Presidency, which it will hold until June this year. There has been criticism from left and right about whether or not the debt-ridden country will be able to cope with governing the EU, as it struggles with the ongoing financial crisis and its damaging effects on Greece’s… [Read More]
Migration needs to cause a lot of growth to increase the real per capita measure of GDP.
Mixed race people suffer more from personal crimes. What are the implications for national identity?
The 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]
The 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]
In 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]
Mervyn Stone provides more evidence why allocations of health-service money need to be better understood.
Sex 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]
According 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]
The 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]