It is widely agreed that if there are to be cuts in the public sector they should be focused on reducing the huge levels of bureaucracy premised on regulation and compliance. But, it is important that not all regulation and compliance is discarded. The converse of heavily bureaucratised regulation is the facade of spurious ‘self-regulation’, […]
Since 1979, successive governments have robustly committed themselves either to reduce public spending and ‘roll back the state’ (Conservative) or be ‘prudent’ with regard to the public finances (Labour). In spite of this total government debt is now approximately £156 billion and the number of public sector employees is greater than ever. In Scotland, the […]
The demise of the New Labour government has perhaps witnessed the dawning of the end of an era in British politics. That era has been characterised by the attempt to systematically advance policies promoting social liberalism and economic conservatism simultaneously. Some commentators (notably Nick Cohen, particularly his What’s Left – How the left Lost its […]
The bulk of left-liberal opinion (and some libertarian right viewpoints) both in this country and internationally, is that the current laws on drugs are ineffectual in terms of combating drug use. They are also seen as quite harmful in needlessly criminalising whole groups of people, particularly those from deprived backgrounds whose prospects (and addiction) are […]
Reports of the imminent demise of the Labour Party have been greatly exaggerated. Virtually up until polling day on the 6th May, the majority of commentators had Labour staring a worst defeat than that under Michael Foot in 1983. Despite a revived Liberal-Democrat threat and a washed out, tired looking PM compounded by the disaster […]
There is one small consolation for Gordon Brown if, as is now widely predicted, he is no longer Prime Minister after May 6th. This comes in the form of the widely reported remarks attributed to the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, that whoever wins the next election will be “stuffed” by the […]
The story of the boy who cried wolf is primal, told to us in childhood and virtually etched in our synapses. It is a formative fable whose impact is universal, one of those stores which, while ostensibly aimed at children, actually help to set out rules of good conduct and effective ways of behaving which […]
(This week’s blog is the basis of an article which was printed in the Sunday Herald Scotland on 25th April 2010.) Methadone, the substitute drug for heroin, has come in for some severe criticism of late here in Scotland. The main brunt of that criticism is that we are simply substituting one addiction (to heroin) with […]
The following is now virtually anathema in many modern educational circles. A teacher or lecturer walks into a classroom/lecture theatre. She delivers a lesson/lecture based on prepared notes consisting of a combination of an established, ‘traditional’ body of knowledge in a particular subject area enhanced by the most up-to-date results and findings in that subject. […]
The 2010 UK general election is underway and campaigning is in full swing. No-one can accurately forecast the result, but for the first time since the 1970s there is a real prospect that no one political party will secure a majority and, therefore a hung parliament will ensue with parties and senior politicians horse-trading and […]