I think a deal on development is actually possible. The two sides are not as far apart as they often seem.
Under our system, coalitions are effectively agreed within parties before the election. Under PR, the Government’s programme is stitched up after voters have had their say.
Devolution is an opportunity to make government better – but only if it is done properly and fairly.
Primaries would mean people could fight for their views within their party, rather than leaving to form another.
In North Dakota, this new energy source has driven vast growth across the economy. We should want the same for Britain.
The results could be remarkable: savings for taxpayers; opportunities for the unemployed; and a benefits system that people can trust again.
By Matthew Sinclair Over the weekend, the major UNFCCC COP17 in Durban concluded. Climate economist Richard Tol has set out the poor progress at the conference compared to Bali all the way back in 2007. He writes that the Durban Platform "pledges an agreement by 2015. It replaces the Bali Roadmap, which pledged an agreement […]
Andrew Lilico argues that the decision to uprate pensions in line with CPI instead of RPI constitutes seizing the property of public sector workers who have accrued pension rights, akin to deciding to "take away their houses or their cars". There was a major case at the High Court which addressed exactly that issue – […]
By Matthew Sinclair I worry that Mohammed Amin has fallen into a common trap with his article about how Israel treats minorities. The country quite rightly contrasts itself as a liberal Western democracy against the ugly theocracies that threaten it, and we respond by applying an entirely unrealistic standard when judging whether it fits that description. […]
Earlier this week, over five hundred workers at the Lynemouth aluminium smelter found out that they were losing their jobs. Their employer, Rio Tinto Alcan, said that "the smelter is no longer a sustainable business because its energy costs are increasing significantly, due largely to emerging legislation". If the Government is serious about sustained economic […]
Politicians have often called Fuel Duty a green tax when they are trying to sell hikes but, when pressed, the Treasury tends to admit it is just another way of raising revenue. The motoring taxes certainly raise a lot of money. £31.5 billion in 2009 and rising. Outside the dense public transport networks, enabling a […]
By Matthew Sinclair of The TaxPayers' Alliance. The process of really opening up the public sector started under Labour with the Freedom of Information Act. The MPs' expenses scandal ended for our generation the argument that we could just trust the checks on spending within the public sector. Since the election, the pace at which […]
They should be given some things that are genuinely awkward for us, and have their existential concerns addressed.