Opinion/blog

Battling it out on welfare

The House of Lords opposition to the Welfare Reform Bill is testament to the hard work of campaigners and a victory for reason over negative rhetoric Read more...

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Clegg takes wrong turn on tax

The deputy prime minister’s plan to raise personal allowances is a very expensive way to help the ‘squeezed middle’. There must be a better approach Read more

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Data overload

Is the coalition government making the same mistake as its Labour predecessor in bombarding the public with too much information? The latest incarnation of school league tables suggests it might be Read more

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Events, dear boy

The new Whitehall heads face change and disruption on a huge  scale. Will they be able to cope? Read more

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NHS management: in the line of fire

Hospital boards are finding it difficult to cut costs and maintain standards of health care. They should consider devolving operational decisions to different business units or ‘service lines’ Read more

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The £33bn question

Will Scotland’s Budget allocate resources in the best possible way? It seems unlikely when a fixed formula is used to determine spending in both health and local government Read more

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Turning the tables

School league tables in England have been amended again by the Department for Education. The changes are welcome and will help parents, but the DfE could still do better Read more

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Health committee tells it like it is

Today’s Health Select Committee report has many home truths to tell, and they go way beyond the headline-grabbing observations on the Health Bill Read more

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End of the Union?

Whatever options are included in the 2014 independence referendum, the Union as we know it is unlikely to survive Read more

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