Too early to start thinking about a post-Covid public inquiry? Maybe so - everyone and everything is maxed out. Those working night and day to contain and improve the situation have better things to think about. And yet. And yet. Even in the midst of a crisis, establishing an audit trail is important. Why? Because [...]
My previous blog, about being a British European, led to an extended conversation on Twitter about my contention that the European Union has made a major contribution to peace in Europe since 1945. I welcome the challenge, because it made me explore even more deeply my thinking on the subject. My Twitter correspondent couldn’t see [...]
Brexit is done. Its implications, beyond those impacts we already understand, will now unfold before us. The Government and the Leave media are triumphant, and Remainers are taking to social media to rebrand themselves as ‘Rejoiners’. One side thinks the issue of Europe settled; the other thinks not. A country as divided as ever it [...]
The festive season is upon us and, in the shadow of Covid and the imminent advent of 'final Brexit', I’m not at all sure what mood to strike. As we near the end of 2020, a year without much of a fan following, what can we anticipate in 2021? Whatever your religion or belief, midwinter [...]
Here’s my second look at the question of what makes a great leader. Previously, I focused on a leader’s personal qualities. I argued in favour of character, and subsequently I realised that some of the qualities I listed set the bar quite high. Some readers’ comments suggested that good leaders might also be flawed personalities, [...]
A very long time ago, I used to commute into London from a long way out. Sometimes at the end of the working day, I’d find all the trains back home severely delayed or cancelled. Usually, there was little or no information about what was going on, and I would stand there feeling stressed, powerless [...]
We’ve all read about Sir Alex Allan’s recent report concerning whether the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, broke the Ministerial Code. It centres on allegations of bullying, and ironically the story broke during Anti-Bullying Week. I don’t want to get into the specifics of the Patel case here, but I do want to say a few [...]
What makes a good leader? Obviously too big a question to answer in one blog, so I’m going to have several goes at this, spread over the next few months. And I’m going to start with a slightly controversial point: not everyone in a leadership position is actually a leader. Some of them are just [...]
My apologies, but I couldn't resist adding something to the wall-to-wall coverage of the US Presidential Election that we've all been immersed in over recent days. My question, in the wake of the election outcome, is: what significance does ‘Make America Great Again’ have in the foreign policy context? ‘MAGA’ is a term to which [...]
No, not an astronomy blog, but one that builds on my last two pieces. I want to explore how narrative and truth in public policy play out with the citizen in the context of the current Covid crisis. And to do so, let me introduce you to Julie. Julie is a composite character drawn from [...]
