“Brainwashing under freedom”
Yesterday, Nick Pearce from IPPR suggested in a Guardian blog that Labour should ‘drop its child poverty target’ and new measures should ‘take into account the fiscal realities we now face.‘ One of his proposals included ‘freezing child benefit in cash terms for a decade’ to ‘free up £2.5bn a year to invest in quality [...]
The political class: rise of the professional politician
This is the second in a series about the political class – who they are, what their background and experience is, and what qualifies them to shape and inform public policy. Here we look at the rise of the professional politician.
The political class: Special advisers
This is the first in a series about the political class – who they are, what their background and experience is, and what qualifies them to shape and inform public policy. First up: special advisers.
Guerilla Voice: 10 ways to make bad policy
Ministers receive plenty of advice about how to make good policy. But what about those who want to make their name with a costly cock-up? Here’s some helpful advice.
Guerilla Voice: Margaret Thatcher’s warning from history
Much of the debate this week following the death of Margaret Thatcher has been about how we are still living with her legacy. However true, this also neglects how politics is changing - and how our politicians need to stop living in the past.
Guerilla Voice: Frontline voices are increasingly lost in the ‘black box’ of public service reform
In his letter to NHS trusts warning them against gagging orders, Jeremy Hunt said it was vital to “recognise and celebrate staff” who speak out about patient safety. The same goes for staff who stand up against ‘reforms’ which threaten the care of anyone using public services.
The top UK think tanks by Twitter analytics tools
For interest, here’s the top 20 think tanks by Twitter following ranked according to their scores from two Twitter analytics tools. By Klout score: 1. = Open Europe (@OpenEurope) - 81 1. = Adam Smith Institute (@ASI) - 81 3. Demos (@Demos) - 80 4. The Young Foundation (@the_young_fdn) - 79 5. Joseph Rowntree Foundation [...]
The top UK think tanks by Twitter following
Last year we did a quick bit of research on the top UK think tanks by Twitter following - here’s this year’s list. We wouldn’t claim anything for this beyond what it obviously is. Let us know which think tanks we’ve missed and we’ll add them to the list. We’ll also do another post with [...]
Guerilla Voice: Charities need to find ways to speak out
This week, the report of an independent inquiry suggested that charities are increasingly afraid to challenge public policy because of fears of retribution from government, especially if they are reliant on public contracts. At the same time, the Government proclaims its commitment to ‘open policymaking.’ If we are to have better policy, it’s vital that [...]
Passion is lacking in politics because the political class is too professionalised
In our previous post we made the simple point that many of today’s politicians don’t look like us. Another reason we feel so disconnected from our politicians is that they seem so detached themselves, and because they express little feeling or passion. The current political class is increasingly technocratic because politics is increasingly a profession rather than [...]
Open policy needs people to step outside of institutions to tell the truth
Christopher Hitchens used to evaluate the credibility of any person or organisation by their willingness to cite ‘evidence against interests’, that is, to acknowledge facts that are contrary to their own position. It’s a good test - and one that many policymakers, commentators and think tanks would fail regularly. With this in mind, we should [...]
Andrew Lansley is gone, but his closed approach to policy-making is likely to continue
We have a new secretary of state for health - but not apparently a new policy for health, or a change in the way that health policy is made. The way to improve the NHS is apparently the same as it was before Andrew Lansley was sacked - more outsourcing and competition. Jeremy Hunt has been appointed [...]
Why outsourcing policy is only open to insiders
In posts over the past few weeks we’ve looked at the Government’s ‘open public services’ agenda, in particular the outsourcing of public services, and how this threatens to undermine another Government initiative, for ‘open policy making.’ Open policy also involves outsourcing policy - but this risks repeating some of the problems with outsourcing public services, especially reducing accountability. We like open [...]
Selling public services - why think tanks promote the ‘Whitehall consensus’ for outsourcing
In posts over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at the issues of accountability, transparency and reliability raised by the Government’s ‘open public services’ agenda, in particular its plans to outsource more public services. We’ve focused especially on how outsourcing threatens to undermine another recently announced Government initiative, that for ‘open policy making.’ In the absence [...]
On the railways (II): What lessons does rail privatisation offer open public services?
Rail privatisation offers a warning from history for the Government’s ‘open public services’ agenda to outsource more public services. In our previous post we suggested that rail privatisation has never been wholly accepted because the Major Government overlooked the essential ‘publicness’ of the railways. In this post we identify five specific damaging consequences of rail [...]
How can civil servants make better use of social media?
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been posting on how various bodies - think tanks, commissioners of public services, and trade bodies - can make better use of social media such as Twitter. In this post we consider how civil servants can use social media in their work - and suggest why many of [...]
5 top tips for think tanks using social media
This is a summary of a presentation to the London think-tank summit ‘At the intersection of traditional and social media’, Europe House, 15th June 2012, by Mike Harris and Chris Sherwood. In our day jobs we work at existing organisations - a well-known think tank and a large national disability charity - that hope to inform and [...]
Reflections on New Think Tank - 5. Simon Gough
This is a series of posts in which we’ve invited people to give us their reactions to Guerilla Policy (formerly the New Think Tank project). This post: Simon Gough from Redfront. Thanks to Simon for contributing the post, and we welcome your comments. One of the biggest challenges awaiting New Think Tank is engagement. For its [...]
Reflections on New Think Tank - 3. Crispin Oyen-Williams
This is a series of posts in which we’ve invited people to give us their reactions to the New Think Tank project. This post is from Crispin Oyen-Williams. Thanks to Crispin for contributing this post, and we welcome your comments. I think the New Think Tank is a really innovative and brave idea. Getting real [...]
Reflections on New Think Tank - 2. Stephen Bediako and Emily Littlewood
This is a series of posts in which we’ve invited people to give us their reactions to the New Think Tank project. This post is from Stephen Bediako and Emily Littlewood from The Social Innovation Partnership. Thanks to Stephen and Emily for contributing the post, and we welcome your comments. Existentialism holds that the starting point [...]