More Ministers need to talk to the public bodies that report through them and hold them accountable for their budgets and actions. Too many of them let us down.
On the doorstep, one lady recently proclaimed; ‘I won’t vote for anyone that sends people to Rwanda’. However, she was just as passionate about that broken pavement slab in front of her house, and that noisy pothole that keeps her husband up at night.
It has world-leading expertise in many areas covered by the deal’s Pillar 2 such as artificial intelligence, counter-hypersonic missile technology, underwater drones and offensive cyber.
The departure of Humza Yousaf provides an opportunity to reflect on the United Kingdom’s confusing administrative geography, and how a future unionist government might hope to reform it.
Starmer’s promises change are superficial; the underlying Labour message is that the foreseeable future won’t be so very different from the recent past. But there can be no Conservative alternative without a change in prime minister.
Khan has failed to deliver on his promise of a city-wide study on stop and search. Instead, despite the majority of people supporting the strategy, use has fallen over the past five years.
By offering 16-year-olds either the ‘ABS’ or the ‘ABS occupational’ route, we are maintaining the siloed, twin-track system we have currently, risking that all-important parity we have worked so hard to build.
We can already see how new farming methods like direct drilling have helped improve both yields and biodiversity. But excessive red tape is blocking many more.
That would be a profound change in this country’s attitude towards children and family life. One can argue the case for or against it – but that argument doesn’t really seem to be what’s informing ministers thinking.
They want a party representing views downplayed by the elite —the desire for lower immigration, the desire for a self-governing nation with secure borders, and the desire for an economy which prioritises British workers.
The green revolution wants to change the way we heat our homes, the kind of transport we use, the products we buy from industry, and the diets we eat.
Reforms that work with the grain of the key constitutional principles of ministerial and collective responsibility are those most likely to strengthen executive government in practice.
People really care about how their local high streets and town centres look. Their physical degradation upsets them. Higher fines are needed for who dig up roads and fail to provide ‘like-for-like’ reinstatement.
The renaissance of places like Dudley demands great skills and single-minded determination. As Mayor, he has proven he has both.