In-depth comment

Why finance needs to be in the cockpit, by Alan Finch

4 May 2011 | Alan Finch

This is not the time for a fallout in the accountancy profession. The current financial climate requires everyone to work together to fly through the economic turbulence and ensure a safe landing Read more...

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The NHS needs to pause for effect, by Neil O’Brien

20 April 2011 | Neil O'Brien

There is widespread support for GP commissioning across the political parties and in the NHS itself. But such a major reform cannot be rushed Read more...

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One year on: the five states we’re in

20 April 2011 | Colin Talbot

The Cameron-Clegg coalition seems determined to roll back the frontiers of the state even more than Margaret Thatcher Read more

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Well past its first-past date, by David Lipsey

19 April 2011 | David Lipsey

It’s time to face the electoral writing on the wall. The case against first-past-the-post has already been made by recent voting trends, whatever the outcome on May 5 Read more...

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Pension prescriptions, by Nigel Keogh

6 April 2011 | Nigel Keogh

The Big Society means services will be provided by a wide variety of organisations. So how will that affect areas such as providing pension schemes? Read more...

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Now you see it, by John Thornton

4 April 2011 | John Thornton

The use of video and audio on websites is growing with the help of platforms such as YouTube. Such content can also be a vital transparency tool Read more...

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Accounts and accountability, by Olivier Roth

4 April 2011 | Olivier Roth

At a time when public confidence in political institutions is low, audit is arguably more important than ever. So what should replace the Audit Commission? Read more...

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Blurring the party lines, Iain Macwhirter

1 April 2011 | Iain Macwhirter

A Scottish voter looking for clear political differences between the parties at the Holyrood elections may be searching in vain Read more...

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Where there’s a Will (and John), by Jackie Ashley

29 March 2011 | Jackie Ashley

The two Huttons’ proposals for reforming public sector pay and pensions tackle major areas that are in the government’s sights for cuts. But how fair are they? Read more...

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Public enemies or partners in reform, by Ian Mulheirn

29 March 2011 | Ian Mulheirn

David Cameron ruffled more than a few feathers at the Conservative spring conference in Cardiff in March by identifying civil servants as the ‘enemies of enterprise’. For many politicians, bureaucrat bashing is much easier than banker bashing – after all, civil servants are unlikely to move to Geneva as a result of the political opprobrium heaped upon them. Read more...

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