Yearly Archives: 2008

I was in Croatia a couple of weeks ago advising their government on how (not) to do public management reform and discovered that they had cancelled Christmas! Read more

There might be clear blue water between the Conservatives and Labour on the economy, but on welfare reform there appears to be a strong consensus. Read more

The parliamentary Christmas recess, which starts next week, cannot come quickly enough for Michael Martin, the embattled Commons speaker. Read more

Who’d be a social worker? Damned if you do intervene, damned if you don’t – and now, thrice damned for the systemic dereliction of duty that culminated in the horrific death of Baby P. Read more

This week’s announcements of stringent welfare measures have just a whiff of Groundhog Day about them. Those ministers with longer political memories, including the prime minister and his deputy, Harriet Harman, are surely alive to the dangers. Read more

So, it’s back to politics as normal. The Tories have even revived their ‘tax bombshell’ poster campaign – credited with helping them to win the 1992 election – following Labour’s confirmation that it intends to increase taxes. Read more

Invoking yet again the late environment secretary Anthony Crosland’s warning to the nation in 1975, one of the larger management consultancies specialising in local government cautioned this week: ‘The party is finally over.’ Read more

So this is it. The die is cast. The battle lines have been drawn. By ripping up his pledge to match Labour’s spending plans, David Cameron has apparently opened up clear political water over tax and spend policies. Read more

What George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, is really saying is: ‘It’s not fair.’ Look at it from his point of view. Read more