30 questions, each describing a government service. Select whether you think the state should provide this service, or whether it should be outsourced to the private sector of charities. This isn’t about who pays for it, just who provides it
With all of the mess around Covid and exam results it is easy to forgot that we have a much bigger challenge ahead Brexit In all of the flurry of nonsense I wanted to highlight the problem of licensing British lorries to work in the EU after the 31st December. The process of authorising goods … Read more
All of the focus of the last week in politics has been the storm around A level results. This is without doubt one of the most shambolic situations any Government has found itself in, one which has no easy way out. The only positive thing I can take from it is that the 6th formers … Read more
I wrote yesterday about the growth of prison labour in the US and the impact it was having on the US jobs market. I received quite a lot of messages and comments about the 13th Amendment to the US constitution. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments are know as the Reconstruction Amendments because they were … Read more
America and the UK both share a long history of respectable blue collar employment. Jobs which didn’t need particular qualifications but which offered respect, a pension, and enough income to own a house and a car and raise a family. If you kept your nose clean and did the right thing you could get on, … Read more
Remploy was started by the Attlee Government to provide sheltered employment to people with disabilities. It opened it’s first factory in 1946 making violins. Only 15 years ago it operated 83 factories across the UK. The sheltered employment model became less popular as years went by and the emphasis changed to supporting disabled people into … Read more
Last month I compared rates of violent crime between my generation and my daughters. It featured lots of teenage nostalgia, and was the most popular blog I have written in ages. As a follow up I wanted to extend the comparison to the generation before me – the baby boomers. We think of the 60s … Read more
A lot of people will have seen similar “viral” content on social media attacking the hypocrisy of Greta Thunberg and young people in general. I’m sorry if you are one of the people who shared these memes, this isn’t meant to be criticism of you. I just don’t think it makes sense from an economic … Read more
Violent crime is at an all time high. Knife crime is out of control. Britain is more dangerous that it ever has been. Drug use is soaring. The headlines are familiar to everyone. It would be easy to believe that young people are more violent, more dangerous, more criminal than ever before. I’m not convinced. … Read more
Every year people complaining about Christmas starting earlier every year starts earlier. I get that people get a bit huffy when Christmas starts in mid-October. Personally I don’t mind it because if our stock is in store in October it means we will get paid for it before Christmas. For our biggest stockists if the … Read more