Review of the Papers, Thursday 10 May
Government Tony Blair's city academy programme faced fresh criticism last night after it emerged that almost £50 million had been paid to advisers for the flagship schools - more than £1 million per project. Just 46 of the academies have…
HIPs - five questions
The countdown continues until the HIPs fiasco hits - everyone knows it's coming but I have all confidence that nothing will be done about it. Currently there are just 57 qualified inspectors for the North East, 76 for Wales, and 152 for…
Burying bad news
It's been reported on the BBC website that the cost of the ID card scheme has risen to £5.31bn. Why can't the government make estimates that are even in the same ball park as the final figures? Every time they value it, the cost seems to…
Our failed care system
I attended a lunchtime talk today by Harriet Sergeant, who has written a booklet ("Handle with Care", published by the Centre for Young Policy Studies back in September), on the disgrace that is our care system for children who have to be…
£50m on consultants and project mangers and not a legacy in sight
And so to another story of exceptional financial waste and total incompetence of management that only a government oversee. Back in 2000 one of the many, many legacies that Blair wanted to set in place was the city academy programme. So…
As useful as a Tory MP on an African building site
Clemency Burton-Hill (a multi-talented individual and real fox to boot, so I'm sorry to have to take the piss, but this is too good to ignore) reports in this week's Spectator that the Tories are "fighting back" against Gordon Brown's lead…
When is a climb down not a climb down? When it's a consultation.
Do I sense a Government climb down over Bingate? In what has become an issue of electoral importance, the fortnightly collections fiasco may have had an impact on the recent local elections. The Government can pour billions of pounds away…
Tax credits have just cost you 1p in the pound on income tax
Gordon Brown's tax credit scheme. Mr Prudent showing that, once again, he really does not deserve that nickname. Afterall, it is reported today that he is about to write off £2bn as unrecoverable after payments had been made out incorrectly…
Policy Announcements, Wednesday 09 May
Government Grants to help climate-conscious householders to install microgeneration technologies will be up for grabs again later this month, Alistair Darling announced today. The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) has already allocated…
Review of the Papers, Wednesday 09 May
**Government ** Tony Blair planned to divide Gordon Brown's fiefdom of the Treasury into two after the 2005 election under proposals drawn up in intense secrecy for the prime minister. The idea was fleshed out in a 200-page document…
BMA want political independence for NHS
An interesting story today about the British Medical Association and their calls for an independent NHS free from political control - not in keeping with the current poll on PL. The paper includes a broad outline of how they would like to…
What privatisation?
One of the worst pieces of privatisation ever embarked on by a government was the Railways Act 1993 under John Major. It was a complex piece of legislation and opposed by just about everyone - including the Labour party. They disliked it so…