Jul 2011: Keeping tabs on the Bank

Better to stick together

Harry Benson 10 Jul 2011

Half of all babies born today will experience family breakdown before they have left school. The cost to the taxpayer of picking up the pieces is more than the entire … » more

Harry Benson is the author of 'Let’s Stick Together: the relationship book for new parents'. He is director of Bristol Community Family Trust.

Bringing dads into the picture

Rob Williams 10 Jul 2011

For the last decade Whitehall's interest in fathers has flared up in different departments at different times, depending on when and where ministers had their eureka moment. Now, with two … » more

Rob Williams is Chief Executive of the Fatherhood Institute

Too often, Mum's the word in family breakups

Nick Woodall 10 Jul 2011

One of the most noticeable and defining features of the Coalition government has been its focus on family and its recognition of the importance of fathers to children. David Cameron’s … » more

Nick Woodall works on policy and development at the Centre for Separated Families.

An absent father leaves a gap no one else can ever quite fill

Mark Stibbe 10 Jul 2011

Not long ago I was speaking on the subject of fatherlessness at a conference in the UK. Two women came up to me after my final session. The first was … » more

Dr Mark Stibbe is founder and Leader of the Father’s House Trust and author of ‘The Father You’ve Been Waiting For’ and ‘I Am Your Father’.

Brandchild Britain

Sue Palmer 10 Jul 2011

Poppy was a bright, happy three-year-old, who loved playing and pottering around the garden. Her family didn’t have a TV so she was used to amusing herself. Then she started … » more

Sue Palmer is a former primary headteacher and author of 'Toxic Childhood: how the modern world is damaging our children .. and what we can do about it'

Banking

As safe as the Bank of England?

Simon Lee 10 Jul 2011

By design, central banks are not supposed to be political animals. When Gordon Brown charged the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee with setting interest rates to achieve the government’s … » more

Dr Simon Lee is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Hull University.

Keeping tabs on the bank

Rosa Lastra 10 Jul 2011

Who guards the guardians of monetary stability and financial stability? That is the key question behind the debate about the accountability of the Bank of England. According to the new … » more

Rosa M Lastra is Professor of International Financial and Monetary Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London.

Constitution and government

Select Committees aren't just talking shops

Meghan Benton 10 Jul 2011

Select committee influence is the stuff of parliamentary folklore: a handful of anecdotes rustle through parliament like Chinese whispers, but little about where select committees have changed policy is ever … » more

Meghan Benton is a research associate at the Constitution Unit, UCL.

Electoral Register: the officers who are still not following the law

Antonia Tildesley 21 Jul 2011

Since the consultation to consider the future of the edited electoral register was launched by the last government, much light has been shed not only on how it is used … » more

Antonia Tildesley is a staff writer for Parliamentary Brief.

The NHS

Fiddling while the NHS burns

Alan Maynard 10 Jul 2011

The NHS reforms will produce another expensive example of ‘jumping on the spot’. Since the reform contagion broke out in 1974 we have re-disorganised regularly with little evidence of effect … » more

Alan Maynard is Professor of Health Economics at the University of York.

Defence

Entente militaire

Anthony King 11 Jul 2011

In 1999, NATO fought its first war. Following the breakdown of talks at Rambouillet, NATO started bombing the Serb army in Kosovo in order to stop its ethnic cleansing of … » more

Anthony King is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Exeter. He has worked closely with the armed forces as an adviser since 2003.

Defence of an island nation

Andrew Dorman 10 Jul 2011

Peter Wall, the current Chief of the General Staff, has now followed his light (RAF) and dark blue (Royal Navy) equivalents in articulating the pressure on defence. Whereas the two … » more

Dr Andrew Dorman is a Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department, King's College London, based at the United Kingdom’s Joint Services Command and Staff College and an Associate Fellow in the International Sec

Darfur and Sudan

What is needed for a real peace in Sudan

Douglas H. Johnson 10 Jul 2011

Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement committed the National Congress Party regime and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to working for ‘the unity of the Sudan, based on the free will of … » more

Douglas H. Johnson is the author of The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars, published by James Currey, and served as an international expert on the Abyei Boundaries Commission.

Party political

Seeing behind the C&C see-saw

Judi Atkins 10 Jul 2011

The general election of May 2010 produced the first full coalition government that Britain has seen since 1945. It also ushered in a new ‘age of austerity’, marked by drastic … » more

Judi Atkins is Research Assistant, Department of Political and Cultural Studies, Swansea University.

Jul 2011: Keeping tabs on the Bank

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