In terms of its original blueprint the NHS has already failed. Delays, ambulance queues, waiting lists, vanishing GPs, strikes and so on, put timely care out of reach to millions. Meanwhile the nation has scarcely ever been more unhealthy with lifestyle and diet issues undermining the wellbeing of millions. How to stay healthy is left […]
The NHS is probably the most comprehensive health service in the world. But it is now in crisis at every level and in every sphere. From time to time I plan expose what I believe are fatal flaws, which hobble its outcomes and frustrate both its selfless, overworked and dedicated staff as well as its […]
It was inevitable that rising interest rates would eventually push many mortgage payments beyond the affordability threshold. But the root of the problem is not rate of interest. It is the the size of the mortgage itself. The underlying threat will remain if and when rates reduce. It is a threat not just to the […]
It is now nearly six months since my last posting. I have been taking a break from writing, concentrating instead on family, keeping fit, exploring nature and taking stock. I have learned a lot. I have also been watching in writer’s silence as my country, of which I am increasingly embarrassed, even ashamed, has blundered […]
The scale of the mess we are in is way beyond just figures and forecasts. In fact it is hard to recall a forecast which turned out to be right. But our biggest problem is about the ability of government to function independently when crafting the economic management of its country. We saw under the […]
In 2008 at the height of the financial crisis I wrote this book, setting out new ideas for the future governance of our country. Some of these have not stood the test of time but some have, including many key ideas covering the economy, education, the NHS and foreign affairs. And, especially now when governance […]
Until we see what the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has to say in his Autumn Statement next Thursday, there is little point in pontificating about the mess we are in, save to say it is of our own making, not Putin’s or the Chinese or whatever. But what I would like to do now is to […]
The NHS is probably the most comprehensive health service in the world. But it is now in crisis at every level and in every sphere. From time to time I plan expose what I believe are fatal flaws, which hobble its outcomes and frustrate both its selfless, overworked and dedicated staff as well as its […]
All my (quite long) life, I have been a keen observer and sometimes participant in the political merry-go-round which is the politics of democracy. By its nature democracy is undisciplined and unpredictable, which is exactly what it needs to be, otherwise it could not and would not be free. But it has to be grown […]