If there’s one industry where it should be possible to make a decent case for renationalisation, it’s surely water. The water and sewerage utilities provide an essential service, have many features of a natural monopoly, and need high levels of investment that could, in principle, be financed more cheaply by government. Labour’s 2017 Manifesto claimed that … Continue reading Should English water be renationalised?
NHS scaremongering shouldn’t block a US-UK trade deal
‘Americans want our NHS’, ‘people before profits’, ‘#NHSNotForSale’… it’s always been difficult to have a sensible discussion about healthcare in the UK, but if you combine the NHS with both Brexit and Trump, it seems almost impossible. Fortunately, there are still some people – even on Twitter – who are willing to engage in constructive … Continue reading NHS scaremongering shouldn’t block a US-UK trade deal
Let’s try to keep politics out of setting minimum wages
The auction continues. One week, Chancellor Philip Hammond is said to be contemplating a large increase in the national minimum wage in an attempt to ‘end low pay’. Next, Labour has responded by extending its plans for a higher £10-an-hour minimum wage to include workers under the age of 18. These might sound like great ideas, … Continue reading Let’s try to keep politics out of setting minimum wages
Should we try to do without food banks?
I first visited a food bank in 2017 at the invitation of the Trussell Trust, the admirable charity which runs the UK’s largest network of emergency centres providing food to people in crisis. Since then the use of their food banks has continued to grow rapidly, largely due to problems in the benefits system and the transition to … Continue reading Should we try to do without food banks?
