If there’s one thing we do exceptionally well, it’s political pageantry. Yesterday (July 17) was the State Opening of Parliament, and the King’s Speech, setting out the government’s legislative agenda. In the morning, the Yeoman of the Guard conducted a ceremonial search for explosives in the cellar, thanks to the Gunpowder Plot. The Imperial State …
There are lots of different ways to talk about what’s possible in policymaking. Perhaps the policy agenda is a container ship which takes years to turn. Or your preferred policy is a raft sat on the water’s edge. You’ve done the work gathering all the pieces and lashing them together, and now you’re just waiting …
Last Wednesday it was confirmed that inflation returned to the Bank of England’s two per cent target in May, however the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee chose the next day to hold interest rates at 5.25 per cent for the seventh time. Since the start of the cost of living crisis, while inflation was, well, inflating …
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves began the week speaking about deeper ties with the European Union, as Labour looked to set out how it would return the UK economy to stable growth. It’s an important topic for the North East, as international trade has defined much of the region’s economic geography, and its traditional industrial …
This election is crying out for someone to talk about how we can change things in this country, rather than just talking about what needs changing. Whether it is Tory pledges to tackle ‘sick-note culture’ or cut taxes to ease the cost-of-living crisis, or Labour’s promises around childcare places or a publicly owned green-energy company, …
Is there any national policy area more tinkered with than Further Education? Let’s take one example. The Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for how education, training and apprenticeships are funded. It was created in April 2017 by merging the Education Funding Agency and the Skills Funding Agency. Now, the Skills Funding Agency was …
The Secretary of State for Business dropped a clanger this week, referring to Tory peer Ben Houchen as the Tyne Tees Mayor. It was a slip which drew the inevitable suggestion that perhaps the Conservatives weren’t really paying attention to the North. The Labour Party, on the other hand, confirmed it most definitely was paying …
There’s every likelihood that the North East mayor elected today will be chosen with the backing of less than 15% of the region’s electorate. That’s not to say they’ll be illegitimate. The winner will probably get somewhere around 35-40% of the vote, but if previous local elections are a good guide, turnout will be about …
Every politician’s nemesis: the ordinary voter. For our elected representatives, there’s no higher stakes moment than a conversation out in the wild. On such interactions are elections won and lost, and careers made or destroyed. There’s a long history of things getting ugly. In 1880, Joseph Cowen Jr, the founder of the Tyne Theatre, owner …
Is there one North East? Or are there many? There’s a tendency to talk about the North East as if every one of the 2.7 million of us experience it exactly the same. The North East needs X, we’ll confidently say, it wants Y. Reality is, of course, much different and quality of life and …
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