I tend to be very cautious about drawing conclusions from statistical associations, but there is an association between high levels of renting and economic success. The continuing policies to convert rented accommodation to private ownership, which David Cameron reiterated in his presentation to the Conservative Party Conference is deeply worrying The percentage of the population […]

David Cameron has tweeted “My pledge to create 500 free schools in next 5 years will give more parents the security of knowing their child is getting a great education” This is really stupid. We know that free schools will go to areas where parents are well organised and affluent, not to areas where schools […]

As a student of economics I am familiar with the concept of perverse incentives. Perverse incentives comes to mind when I wonder why the Iraq Enquiry set up by the Labour Party to investigate issues surrounding the decision to invade Iraq seem to lack any sense of urgency. Members of the Iraq Inquiry Committee are […]

No more “nastiness”, we want a society that is fair.

What worries me about the referendum is that it will be decided by voters who will be swayed by misunderstandings and half truths. Several time in the last few weeks I have been told that we can leave behind the EU regulations and just have a free trade agreement, like Norway. WRONG! I wonder how […]

On various Lib Dem and other web sites we are seeing calls for a better electoral system. Some are advocating proportional representation. Proportional representation seems fair and reasonable, but is dangerous. The most extreme form of PR is used in Israel. At elections the vote is for a party. In the recent elections the party […]

I spent this morning with the Mayor in the Mayor’s Parlour. We were there to interview candidates for the Goethe Scholarship. Germany supports the knowledge of German Language and Culture through the Goethe Institutes. Loughborough’s Twin Town of Schwäbisch Hall is one of many towns able to offer one scholarships each year to a young […]

History never repeats itself, but the memo leaked to the Telegraph by the Scottish Office reminds me of the Zinoviev letter, a forgery, published by the Daily Mail, four days before the 1924 election, in which the Conservatives gained 155 seats and overturned the first Labour Government. The allegation is that Nicola Sturgeon said that she […]

On the Today Programme on Friday, Chris Leslie, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said “A typical teacher will still have £25,000 to pay off at the the age of 50 and will really struggle to be able to do that”. It is really horrifying that either he does not understand the system, or that […]

Some hospitals are announcing that they cannot take any more patients. The reason is obvious, we are trying to run a health service with inadequate resources. Party manifesto’s, including the Lib Dems, focus on how much more money they will put into the health service. Money itself will not solve the problem if it goes […]