Monthly Archives: February 2011

The following letter from Dr Roy Spendlove (Miscellaneous Projects) to Dame Lucy Doolittle  (Director of Unit for co-ordinating cross cutting initiatives and partnerships)has come into my possession. It shows latest civil service thinking on the cuts. Dear Lucy,                I felt it was time I reported to you on the progress we are making in explaining [...]

                    Most agree that fighting the last war often leaves you wrongly equipped for what might come next. There is also a futility about trying to refight the last war if you have already lost it. However much you try, the past result remains.                   The Bank of England specialise in doing too much [...]

                      Yesterday the No to AV campaign claimed that the referendum to change the voting system would cost taxpayers £250 million. This was an eye catching claim.  It did not cheer up many who want public spending brought under control without damaging important services. The cost of the referendum joined overseas aid to more [...]

                Inflation is well set around the world. At least most commentators now recognise this, and have stepped away from telling us the main  threat was deflation. The large increases in food prices which lax money policy has triggered have had one unexpected result – it has helped fuel the anger of the crowds taking [...]

                    A government needs both strategy and tactics. A sensible government, if it makes a tactical error, will quickly apologise, adjust and move on. If a government makes a serious strategic error – like John Major’s ERM decision or Gordon Brown’s boom and bust policy-  it is likely to be terminal for that government. [...]

               Some contributors have written in to say they think the answer to the prisoners’ votes issue is for the UK to pull out of the Convention and settle its own ideas in Parliament. The piece I wrote did not express my view, but sought to say what I think the government will do, [...]

            The Prime Minister has said he wants to explain the Big Society idea better. He has appointed a couple of Big Society advocates to spread the word.          The good news for him is that the Big Society is alive and well. I take it to mean that the public good can be [...]

          Well done to the people of Egypt. They have swept away a dictatorship. They now need to ensure the army understands the new reality, and is prepared to pave the way for free elections and a new kind of government.        Meanwhile, the wave of popular protest is heady and spreading. Satellite TV [...]

                   How much more inflation will it take to get the Monetary Policy Committee to notice it? The recent producer price numbers show increases of more than 13% in the costs industry is incurring, and inflation of output prices by almost 5%.  As a contributor to this site has asked, what is the point [...]