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Archive for April, 2008

Independent on Sunday “Happy List”

Monday, April 28th, 2008

As a counter to the annual Sunday Times Rich List, published over the weekend, the Independent on Sunday published their Happy List of “100 people who make Britain a better and a happier place to live”  
It makes for an interesting read - not least because ten of the 100 are individuals whose stories featured in Britain’s Everyday [...]

Two Cheers for American Welfare Reform

Friday, April 25th, 2008

photo credit: Why Tuesday?
I went to a fascinating lecture last week at the Institute of Economic Affairs called “Two Cheers for American Welfare Reform: Lessons Learned, Questions Raised, and Next Steps”. It was given by Prof Douglas J Besharov who was over from the American Enterprise Institute / University of Maryland School of Public Policy.  Professor Besharov [...]

Fools Gold: London 2012 Olympics and community engagement

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Today saw the launch of the report “Fool’s Gold” In partnership with the new economics foundation (nef)  LinksUK  have produced a report to look ‘…from the ground up’ at the likely involvement of local people and businesses in the London 2012 Olympics and the impact the games will have.
The bid was won on the promise of [...]

National Audit Office report on the Hidden Economy

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

The National Audit Office has just published its report on: ‘HM Revenue & Customs: Tackling the hidden economy’. I sat on the advisory panel last year so was pleased to see the final version which landed on my desk last Thursday. It provides a wealth of information and critical examination about what HMRC has been doing [...]

Idea of the day

Monday, April 7th, 2008

This idea came to me late on Friday afternoon. Ok so you know how popular reality TV shows are, well what about a show based on MPs living off benefits for a week (or a month). It may have been done before, but wouldn’t it be great to see some of the senior cabinet and [...]

Further thoughts on the BERR ‘Enterprise Strategy’

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

I was pleased to see in BERR’s recent Enterprise Strategy that the government is committing a further £30 million to extend enterprise education, and the launch of a National Enterprise Academy (only one?).
However, their efforts need to extend much further if enterprise is really going to seep into our culture. We’ve been campaigning for the [...]