Yesterday I attended the New Schools Network/Centre Forum Conference at the Commonwealth Club in central London. There was cross-party representation looking at the big issues on school reform whoever wins the next election. There was also a sample of guests from other countries to share their experiences of similar journeys. I’ll not bore you with [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘UK’
February 17, 2010
UK Police Miss Open Goals
The BBC have posted this article about efforts for the police to improve ‘Customer service’. Based on no more than my own anecdotal experience I reckon the police have improved over the last five years. But not enough. Despite the new ‘customer focus’ efforts they still seem unable to score an open goal. Allow me [...]
February 11, 2010
Why ‘Cameron Direct’ Works
This evening about 100 people gathered in a School in Edgbaston for one of the ‘Cameron Direct’ events. The concept is simple. ‘Dave’ pitches up to a bare stage, yards from the crowd. There are no speeches, no notes, just questions from the audience and answers from the man. It isn’t a specially invited audience. All sorts can and do turn [...]
February 3, 2010
Utter Lib Dem Hypocrisy Over Crime Stats
The Lib Dem’s bend over backwards to create an air of being somehow above the perceived rough-and-tumble games that the two serious contenders engage in. A press release I spotted today underlines that they can be as hypocritical as the best of them when there is a whiff of political opportunism.
As background, Evan Davis tried [...]
January 31, 2010
Thoughts: The Blair Perfomance
I actually ‘won’ a ticket for the afternoon session. I got excited when it arrived in the post only to find on closer inspection that it wasn’t for the main room, but a ticket for the viewing gallery. i.e. the chance to watch it next door on a big screen. I decided to save the [...]
January 26, 2010
Is Cameron Missing a Trick with Twitter? Is he heck!
Yesterday, David Cameron received a direct appeal from Conservative Uber-Blogger Tim Montgomerie to take up Twitter. You can watch the question and response here. Yet more pressure on the Tories to play ‘catch-up’ with this medium came with this report referenced in yesterday’s FT.
Whilst I have nothing but respect for Montgomerie and his ability to [...]
January 19, 2010
Reflections: The Kraft Takeover of Cadbury
Today’s headline is that the Cadbury Board accept Kraft’s raised takeover offer. It isn’t yet a done-deal – theoretically Hershey could still come in at a higher price or the deal could still be rejected by Shareholders – but in sporting terms Kraft have carried it over the line and just have to formally touch-down. [...]
January 18, 2010
Childcare Vouchers: What Will the Conservatives Do?
Childcare Vouchers: What Will the Conservatives Do?
As innovative tax breaks go the one I always loved the most was the childcare voucher scheme. Now this isn’t just because I was once an enthusiastic recipient (consider my interest therefore declared), it was because I loved the principal of the thing – of all government attempts to [...]
January 11, 2010
Million Pound ‘Crowd-Source’ Website: Not as Crackers as it May Sound.
Recently the Conservative Party has been trying to convince the public that it ‘gets’ the internet. The best example is Maude’s Conference announcement that much more government spending would be published on the net so an army of “armchair auditors” could find the dodgy or wasteful and bring to account. Make no mistake, it is [...]
December 30, 2009
How to frame the ‘Class Debate’: ‘Prejudice’ not ‘Envy’
One of the features of an indulgent Christmas nowadays, after the wine and pud, is to log on to the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, etc) and read the thoughts and wishes of contacts both close and tenuous. One caught my eye this year – it was written by someone I know to be bright [...]
