Essays
Our contributors explain what they think and why. Each essay is the author's own view.
Once and for all, again
Social care has had commissions, legislation and promises. A durable reform also needs a government willing to defend how it is funded.
No past tense
A news article can change while keeping its address. To establish what it once said, someone needs to preserve the earlier version.
Nobody can tell you what it costs
A household saving and a national cost aren't contradictory figures. Policy reporting needs to explain what each number measures.
By its own numbers
Heathrow's economic case should be judged by what the modelling establishes, including what it can say about benefits beyond London.
Seven words for one policy
A review, a pause and a cancellation imply different things. Coverage should explain what changed in practice.
The invoice comes later
Cost-of-living relief deserves a hearing. So does the funding choice that makes it possible.
A mandate is a real thing
A successor can be entitled to govern without having public endorsement for an entirely different programme.
Nobody's fault
Calling a failure systemic should help establish responsibility, rather than leave everyone waiting for another inquiry.
The tax rise called a freeze
Holding thresholds still can raise the share of income taken in tax. Voters deserve that effect explained as clearly as a change in rates.
When popular becomes populist
Populism describes more than popularity. Using the word as a loose dismissal weakens criticism of the genuinely dangerous kind.
The package deal
Political opinions often come as a set. Following politics closely doesn't guarantee that we have considered each of them independently.
Off the books
PFI offered a way to build without the same immediate effect on headline debt. That wasn't sufficient reason to pay more over a project's life.