The funding crisis in detail
Before the early 2000s, Britain’s universities were almost wholly funded by taxpayers, but the amount halved between 1975 and 2000.
Feature boxes
Feature boxes
How public libraries were won
As with so much in public services, the parliamentary act was the culmination of local struggles, and efforts by members of the library profession.
Billions available for war
The government has already committed a massive £12 billion to carrying on the Ukraine war since February 2022.
What is private equity?
Far from creating wealth or adding value, private equity (PE) is another capitalist way to filch wealth already created by workers.
Decay in dentistry
The queues of would-be patients waiting to register with a Bristol dental practice that offered NHS treatment that hit the headlines in early February were a shocking reminder of the state of dentistry.
Tough? It's just a show
The Conservative conference went into overdrive as government ministers vied with each other to be seen as tough on immigration. But all that mattered to them was the being seen part.
Where's the capacity?
East-West Rail is a project currently renewing and rebuilding a largely disused rail line between Oxford and Cambridge.
More delay, more cost
To fit with the government’s scaled-down plans the station at Old Oak Common will have to be completely redesigned with more platforms to act as a terminus rather than a through station as originally planned
£8,000 to replace a boiler
As an example of how the Climate Change Committee’s targets fail to mesh with reality, consider how our homes are to be heated...
Planning for the wider healthcare team
Modern healthcare is entirely reliant on teamwork
Anti-union law: a brief history
As workers began to challenge the power of capital and employers at the start of the industrial revolution, trade unions were simply made illegal by the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800.
Totnes vs the land grabbers
Events at the King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC) in Totnes demonstrate the need for scepticism when purely economic arguments are put forward.
The EU: a bloc of stagnation
23 December 2022
Very much like capitalism in Britain, the EU is clueless about how to run an economy. A particular weakness is the European Central Bank, run by the famously helpless Christine Lagarde.
Surgeons take the initiative
22 December 2022
The idea of separating emergency and elective (planned) care is not new but the genuine determination to improve services after the Covid pandemic has given this impetus.
Labour opened the doors wide
Before the Labour government under Tony Blair, immigration from the EU was substantial, but not overwhelming.
What are Londoners like?
How can more Londoners be moved to think that they are part of Britain?
New factory on the Humber
A new rare earth refinery – the Pensana development at the Saltend Chemicals Park, Humber (Port of Hull), is to be operational by 2023.
Labour's lethal legacy
It was indeed the Labour government elected in 1945 that pushed for the idea of NATO in the first place.
Now Covid tests are banned...
New EU rules for Covid tests are set to replace British law in Northern Ireland despite warnings that this may cause shortages and a lower quality of tests.
Plenty of time for gimmicks
Rail use is currently around 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels, but it is expected to recover and grow further in time.
ELM explained…
There are three elements to the Environmental Management Scheme, which applies to England.
Zero carbon, zero storage
Closure of the Rough gas storage field in 2017 made Britain increasingly dependent on others for our basic energy supply.
Finishing school for globalists
Take a look at some of those who have passed through World Economic Forum education programmes...
Case study: East London
A database published by the government in October revealed that raw sewage poured into east London rivers for thousands of hours in 2020.
The best of times?
Government support for SMR reactors is good news for the engineers and other staff at Rolls-Royce, but the company still seems hell-bent on screwing every ounce of profit out them.
When government did support technology
ARM Holdings has its origins in the BBC Micro computer, produced in the 1980s produced for schools to go along with BBC programmes on microelectronics.
Autism and unemployment
If employment prospects for young people generally are grim, for those with any kind of disability they are desperate. And worse still if that disability is autism.
There is another way…
In Germany, the government and employers bear proportionately the costs of a dual vocational training system.
A reservoir of fruit genetics [print version]
Britain does have a National Fruit Collection at Brogdale in Kent – still the largest fruit collection in the world growing on one site.