24 August 2011 - The speed camera debate: refusal to acknowledge costs

6 April 2011 - Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander lies about NI changes
9 March 2011 - Blaming previous government for all wrongdoing
24 February 2011 - Hidden reasons behind the PM's Middle East tour

Financial Sector Pushes for 'Improved Relationship' with Parliament in The Times
The Editors, 4 February 2012

'We can't do business in the UK, say top bankers', claims the front page of Saturday's Times. After a week in which chief executive of RBS, Stephen Hester, backed away from a £1m bonus, while his predecessor, Fred Goodwin, was stripped of his knighthood, the lead article by Patrick Hosking and...

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Political Theatre: Using the Media to Campaign for Tax Cuts
Graham Bell, 26 September 2011

Early in September the BBC news reported on those calling for the 50p tax rate to be cut, by giving an enormous amount of attention on television, radio and online news to a letter sent to the Financial Times and signed by twenty people who wanted the top rate to be...

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Nick Triggle, the NHS, and the Privatisation Debate
Graham Bell, 27 July 2011

The public outcry surrounding the News of the World phone hacking scandal provided an opportunity for those in power to implement the changes that have been in the making since the release of Andrew Lansley's White Paper, 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS', in July 2010. On 11th July David Cameron...

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Murdoch Gives a Weak Performance as Control over News Corp is Questioned
Andrew Kanyemba, 20 July 2011

Professor James Post of Boston University made the bold assertion yesterday that Rupert Murdoch's “credibility” as chairman and CEO of the media empire 'News Corporation' was now dangerously “haemorrhaging”, suggesting in the process that the News Corp company is suffering from the scandal involving its founder in the UK. Yesterday, after...

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The Telegraph and Policy Exchange make Joint Attack on Public Sector
Amy Woods, 13 May 2011

Earlier this week an editorial in The Telegraph pronounced that: “The overwhelming majority of public sector workers are significantly better paid than those in the private sector – and the differential is actually increasing.” The paper was citing a report released by the conservative think tank Policy Exchange which claims findings...

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'There's no Money Left': a Misconception Fuelled by the Press
Ronan Jack, 6 April 2011

'Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left. Kind regards and good luck.' The now-famous note left for his successor in May 2009 by Liam Byrne, the outgoing chief secretary to the Treasury, was apparently intended as a joke. Almost a year later, as we start...

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Neither Major UK Party can be Trusted with the NHS
Graham Bell, 3 April 2011

Good news came yesterday for the campaign to save the NHS, as David Cameron proposed safeguards to prevent private firms from cherry-picking the profitable services within. The changes being implemented on the body were seen by most as benefiting only the corporate in the UK, and not as being in the...

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Government Deficit: The Success of Framing the Debate
Ronan Jack, 22 March 2011

The coming budget has been prefaced by much comment about budget deficits and the national debt. Almost every comment from a government minister includes some variant on the theme of having inherited a massive and catastrophic deficit which must be tackled before we submerge under a sea of debt. The government...

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Project Merlin: What They're not Telling you
Derek Suede, 11 February 2011

On the 9th February 2011, the conservatives announced that they will increase the bank levy from £1.7bn to £2.5bn, an increase of £800m. This is surely a step in the right direction and sounds like a clampdown on the banks at last. On its news website the BBC has posted a...

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