Good news on regions but coalition needs to go further
LEPs will further strengthen city regions like Greater Manchester and Leeds and offer some of the powers that these areas have secured to other conurbations.
Guest
Scrapping of HIPs masks Tory u-turn on stamp duty
There has been an almost deafening silence from Grant Shapps and Eric Pickles over the dropping of the Tory manifesto pledge to raise the stamp duty threshold.
Child and pensioner poverty fall, but 2010 target will be missed
Both child and pensioner poverty fell in 2008/09 compared to the previous year.
Coalition stores up trouble on prisons
Today’s “programme for government” says nothing about prisons policy. The Coalition Government has failed to resolve the fundamental differences between the two parties.
The new politics of coalitions
Since the result of last Thursday’s election became clear, the leaderships of all three major parties have acted diplomatically to reach a workable outcome.
The coalition’s human rights timebomb
The Human Rights Act is a flash point for the Coalition. Theresa May says “no decision” has been made but Nick Clegg says a Government would tamper with it “at its peril”.
Third of voters decided in final week of campaign
A detailed poll of election behaviour has been published. It shows that one-third of voters made up their mind in the final week, and a series of other attitudes.
Increase in adult participation in learning
Each year, during Adult Learners’ Week, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education publishes a survey of adult participation in learning in the UK.
Campaign 2010: Election leaflets unspun
TheStraightChoice.org crowd sources photographs and details of election leaflets in real-time. During the election they collected more than 5,000 leaflets.
Lib Dems need to press Cameron to implement Robin Hood Tax
This was the week Robin Hood rode back into our lives – not on the back of a glistening stallion but in the form of Russell Crowe.