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Aim: this article proposes a radical new approach to the monitoring and governance of services, and the education and training of nurses to meet ‘failure to rescue’ requirements. Background: healthcare policy in the UK that seeks to ensure safe and effective services for the acutely ill has largely failed, resulting in adult patients dying unnecessarily. Despite grand rhetoric, UK governments have distanced themselves from implementation, resulting in patchy localised developments and creating inconsistent service responses. Design and data sources: this article draws on a review of research and UK policy literature and best international practice to propose a new national framework approach that combines competency development, governance and performance monitoring to address ‘failure to rescue’ shortcomings. Implications for nursing: paramount is a nationally agreed and fit-for-purpose competency tool using simulation to assess staff in order to improve recognition of the deteriorating patient. Service improvements should include increased investment in telemedicine; service performance should be communicated through publicly available ratings and overseen by patient panels; and governance will require strengthening through enhanced Care Quality Commission/Monitor input, which should be linked to the maintenance of foundation trust status. Conclusion: health professional bodies, regulators, providers and the Government must work together to strengthen the safety and effectiveness of acute services. This will require investment in staff competency and enhancement of the governance to ensure services consistently meet public expectations and reduce unnecessary deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on the newly available private papers of Brendan Duddy, the key intermediary in contacts between the British government and the IRA between the early 1970s and the early 1990s when the IRA moved towards a permanent ceasefire and a negotiated settlement of the conflict. It draws too on extensive interviews with Duddy and other key participants in these contacts, and on newly available documents from the UK National Archives to identify some of the key dimensions to the role of intermediary in back-channel communication. It argues that these sources help us to better understand the complexity and ambiguity of the role of intermediary in sensitive covert negotiations, as well as shedding light on the extent to which an intermediary shapes communication between two parties rather than simply acting as a channel between them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite the limited exception introduced by statute in 1974, the principle that truth is and ought to be a complete defence to all actions in defamation is typically regarded as self-evident in modern English law. The fact that England stands here against not only the whole of the civilian tradition but also a number of common-law jurisdictions suggests, however, that it is not. This paper, after surveying the history of the principle in English law and the debates that it has spurred in the past, argues that English law is right on this question, but needs to understand more cogently why. This, in turn, requires an examination of the interests protected by the cause of action. It is only if we accept that it is, and is solely, reputation founded in character that the defence of veritas will be secured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article references the paper published by the journal in 2015 on the association between day of admission and mortality, which health secretary Jeremy Hunt apparently used in his House of Commons speech on July 16, 2015, claiming that 6,000 people die yearly because of lack of a proper seven day service in hospitals. Topics discussed include where the 6,000 figure came from, whether the Department of Health (DH) commissioned the new analysis, and whether data were shared with the DH.

Presents bibliographical indexes of the National Register of Archives which the British Historical Manuscripts Commission maintains as the central point for collecting and disseminating information about the location of manuscript sources relating to British politics.

The UK government's 'Industrial Strategy' is a product of a Conservative party in power, coming to terms with a particular set of economic and political circumstances. In contrast, international bodies have commended long-term concepts of 'green growth' rather than conventional industrial development, whilst individual local authorities in the UK and elsewhere have been working towards economic regeneration policies that are both environmentally aware and also related directly to local communities. Taken together, the UK industrial strategy, the reports of international agencies and the efforts of individual local authorities raise the question as to the possible shape of a national strategy that reflects ideas of green growth and applies these ideas to processes of urban regeneration, urban development and planning. This paper gives a brief outline of such a strategy, suggesting that green growth must deal with towns and cities, both as causes of pollution, carbon emissions and resource consumption and as places where people should be able to enjoy a good quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the Working Paper published by the Modern British Studies (MBS) research centre on new ways of thinking about the transformation of British society, culture, politics and economy between 19th century and 2015. It highlights the cultures of democracy and the rising political, social and cultural change. It states that the paper can be used as a study material for understanding the state of history in present times.

A list of accessions given to the British National Archives in 2009 is presented, including minutes and policy papers of the Avon Liberal Party between 1977-1995, minutes and notes of the Exeter Labour Party between 1963-1968, and the correspondence of the British communist figure Bill Moore between 1916-1999.

Social and environmental justice across generations is a fundamental attribute of sustainable development. In this article, which is also a call for papers for a future theme in Public Money & Management (PMM), we develop our case for further research on how governments and public service organizations seek to address sustainable development in their decision-making processes. We believe that accounting for social and environmental aspects is an underdeveloped area of research and practice that is worthy of further critical enquiry. We therefore call on researchers and practitioners to submit their research to a themed issue of PMM on managing and accounting for sustainable development in public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the Internet resource State Papers Online, the Government of Britain, 1509-1714, located at http://www.gale.cengage.com.

This paper gives a short overview of the UK government’s STEM agenda and then considers one aspect in depth – the STEM Advisory Forum. It explains how the Forum operates to draw together views from across the STEM community through online discussions and face-to-face events. Four examples are given of topics that have been dealt with by the Forum. Firstly the topic of engineering, enrichment and engagement is covered through samples of various events and discussions. A major issue covered is the number of young people taking A Level mathematics. The background to the issue is explained and how views expressed on the Forum might have had some influence upon the Government’s advanced level target and may yet impact on admissions behaviour in universities. A third short example of impact on the number of university places for STEM subjects is given and the piece finishes with an example of impact at local level in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a list of major accessions to repositories in 2004 relating to British politics. They include the Bristol Record Office, Bury Archives Service, Cambridgeshire County Record Office, City of Westminster Archives Center, and Cumbria Record Office and Local Studies Library.

Ballot order positional effects, electoral advantage gained from a candidate's surname location on the ballot paper, have been extensively studied. For ‘low-information’ elections especially candidates located at or near the top of the ballot paper are advantaged relative to their competitors. This examination of alphabetic bias uses data from local council election results in Britain. The examination of election contests featuring more than half a million candidates provides evidence of an alphabetic bias which increases as the number of vacancies increases. We calibrate the effects upon votes and vote share of alphabetical ordering of candidates. Comparing votes cast for last- and first-placed candidates in the ballot order demonstrates a clear advantage to those placed first. This increases in size as both the number of seats and competing candidates increases. Those located in the top half of the ballot paper are more likely to finish in the top half of the vote order. Subsequently, the distribution of surnames among elected councillors is clustered towards the top of the alphabet. Measures could remove the effects of alphabetic bias, such as randomising name order and introducing experiments in local council electoral practice, a cost-effective means for evaluating change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Analyzes responses of Great Britain to the European Union (EU) White Paper. View of Great Britain on governance; Support of Great Britain for a code of conduct on consultation; Responses from EU governance actors.

This article discusses the impact of the British government's White Paper "The Civil Service: Continuity and Change" to the civil service. Generally, the bulk of civil service is good on detail as well as principle. The White Paper also brings out how far ahead the people get in terms of making things actually happen as compared to the rest of the world. For the White Paper really does split into two parts, and it is ironical and perhaps revealing that the much better bit is all about the great bulk of the civil service which is undoubtedly getting better, while the inferior bit that in fact contemplates no change at all is all about the senior open structure which is so letting British citizens down. And for this there is a simple reason. For the great bulk of the civil service there is discussion about what they are there for, or at least provision for such discussion with a sensible underpinning assumption that if there is no job for them to do they should not be there. For the Senior Civil Service the reverse is true that no such discussion and the apparent assumption that whether or not there is a job for them to do they must carry on.

This article re-examines the relationship between the Daily Mirror and popular politics in Britain during the Second World War. It outlines how traditional journalistic and academic analyses have located the period as a high-point of 20th-century radical journalism and political participation in Britain, usually in opposition to a depoliticised and disengaged contemporary news environment. It then re-assesses the Mirror's place in popular culture during this period to suggest an alternative and more complex interpretation of a paper's relationship with popular politics, political disengagement and participation. This differs from both traditional, largely positive accounts of the Mirror's relationship with political engagement and revisionist histories that emphasise its negative relationship with wartime "apathy". It explores firstly the predominantly negative role the paper played in the political mobilisation of a disengaged electorate, both in terms of its continued prioritisation of entertainment over "hard news" and its pioneering of new styles of negative and mediated political coverage. Yet it also examines how the paper's coverage advanced a new, more youth-based, consensual and cross-party alternative for an electorate that was politically disengaged but far from apathetic. This more complex interpretation of the paper's relationship with popular politics and political disengagement parallels current developments and debates around these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical far-right organisations have long proved pervasive, but are rarely interpreted as competitive political parties. While these minority parties and movements never secured significant representation, they influenced municipal and constituency political activity. Focusing on the 'textile belt' of Eastern Lancashire and West Yorkshire, this article seeks to understand how far-right organisations engaged in local electoral politics. It considers the influence of regional economic changes, caused by industrial realignment, and how opponents, primarily local Labour parties, interpreted post-war fascism and the concerns it engendered. The article then examines the growing influence of Labour's anti-fascist campaigns, the popular appeal of far-right politics, and the composition of such group's memberships. As far-right institutional archives are limited, the article uses material produced by predominant local Labour parties. Alongside providing new perspectives, it encourages scholars to interpret far-right organisations as electoral actors, rather than mere cultural and political pariahs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how dominant narratives of the housing crisis, since the 2008 banking crisis in England, have been created and what actions taken in its name. The paper deconstructs the term "crisis", highlighting that its meaning has evolved from a critical moment to a protracted narrative which must be understood historically. Through discourse analysis into housing and party political policy, media and think tank reports, we argue that the employment of housing crisis by the government and others perceives it as an outcome of housing supply constraints and over‐regulation—narratives that have justified subsequent policy actions aimed at propping up the housing and financial systems, opening new avenues for housing commodification, deregulation and financialisation and reproducing crisis anew. However, we note that these narratives can also break down and space can be created for the articulation of new narratives which refocus housing crises as emerging from inequality and class divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of newspapers in nineteenth-century British politics has long been recognized by historians. Lord Palmerston understood keenly the power of the press and cultivated good relations with a number of papers. This article will elucidate more thoroughly than heretofore his early forays into the world of press intrigue. Palmerston did not, however, earn the regard of The Times, at least not until much later in his career. The Times, edited by Thomas Barnes from 1817 until his death in 1841, was the most powerful newspaper of the era. This article will examine the origins of its long-running feud with Palmerston, demonstrating the personal and political differences at the heart of its inception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK Government has recently published a consultation paper on potential law reform for failing investment banks. The paper was prompted by the failure of Lehman Brothers and its repercussions. This article reviews the paper and highlights some of the key issues emerging which may form the focus of future law reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the current state of press partisanship in the UK. Utilizing content analysis data from the 2005 General Election campaign, recent hypotheses about press dealignment are tested with quantitative methods. Partisan tendencies in reporting are measured in terms of coverage bias, statement bias, and agenda bias. As the governing party, Labour benefits from coverage bias in all papers, while the Liberal Democrats remain marginalized. It can be shown that increasingly ambiguous endorsements in broadsheet and tabloid press alike translate into a general absence of open support for political parties. At best, endorsed parties receive neutral treatment, with their opponents being harshly criticized. Partisan tendencies do, however, manifest themselves in other patterns of campaign coverage. Even weakly partisan papers engage in strategic behaviour, most notably by reinforcing the issue agendas of endorsed parties. With both the Independent and the Guardian lending strategic support to the Liberal Democrats, and the Murdoch press being largely non‐committal, the analysis hints at an erosion of support for New Labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to extend work previously published that points to the importance of rhetorical analysis to policy studies. It argues against the notion that policy can be dismissed as 'spin' and explores further the work of rhetoric within the UK government's policy texts of lifelong learning. For the authors, rhetorical analysis helps to point to the politics of discourse that is at play in policy-making processes. This paper points to some of the conceptual resources upon which one can draw in undertaking rhetorical deconstructions of policy texts and discourses, in this case, of lifelong learning, and one's own role, as analysts and sultans of spin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demonstrates how the planned freedom of information legislation in Great Britain has been enfeebled due to its construction within a framework of ministerial responsibility. Overview on the Code of Practice on Access to Official Information; Differences of the Code and the White Paper Your Right to Know; Background and rationale of the Draft Freedom of Information Bill.

The article presents debate on the involvement of the government in the decision-making of philanthropic foundations in Great Britain. Topics discussed include the total impact of the government in decision making, effective philanthropy, government transparency, government investments, and proxy interventions.

This paper documents a significant association between the exposure of an individual or area to the UK government's austerity-induced welfare reforms begun in 2010, and the following: the subsequent rise in support for the UK Independence Party, an important correlate of Leave support in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership; broader individual-level measures of political dissatisfaction; and direct measures of support for Leave. Leveraging data from all UK electoral contests since 2000, along with detailed, individual-level panel data, the findings suggest that the EU referendum could have resulted in a Remain victory had it not been for austerity. (JEL D72, F15, F60, H53, I38) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the continuity and changes in Clarke’s ideas about the State and community in education, especially in relation to a rapidly changing political situation in England in the 1930s and 1940s. His ideas evolved in the intellectual context of British idealism. Moreover, in response to the threat to democracy arising from Fascism or Totalitarianism, the distinction between the State and community was a key theme in Clarke’s ideals of liberal democracy. Additionally, this paper also proposes the implications of Clarke’s ideas for future educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Socio-legal status determines the differential rights to residence, work and social welfare that accrue to migrants depending on their particular immigration status. This paper presents analysis of original empirical data generated in qualitative interviews with migrants who had both made a claim for asylum and experienced conditions of forced labour in the UK. Following an outline of the divergent socio-legal statuses assigned to individual migrants within the asylum system, early discussions in the paper offer a summary of key aspects and indicators of forced labour. Subsequent sections highlight the significance of socio-legal status in constructing such migrants as inherently vulnerable to severe exploitation. It is concluded that immigration policy and, more particularly, the differential socio-legal statuses that it structures at various stages of the asylum process, helps to create the conditions in which severe exploitation and forced labour are likely to flourish among asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the decades since the Conference on Devolution's proceedings concluded in stalemate in April 1920, the Conference has been consigned to the margins of political and constitutional history. However, within this limited literature, one interpretation of the Conference's proceedings has been universally held: that the subject of the powers the devolved legislatures should enjoy was a rare source of consensus. This article challenges this orthodoxy, using archival evidence from the Conference to demonstrate that while a consensus on powers may have existed on paper, such agreement certainly did not exist in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article critically analyses the development of the thought underpinning Conservative policy towards trade unions and, in particular towards the regulation of trade union internal affairs. It goes on to suggest that Conservative policies were influenced by a broad New Right ideology, ‘academic’ thinking on the internal structures of trade unions and debates within the Conservative Party, especially after Mrs Thatcher's election. More specifically, the paper explores the degree to which neo liberal ideology and ‘academic’ thinking on trade union accountability had an influence on ‘practical’ policies and the use politicians made of ideas in policy. The paper also highlights the key role played by Sir Keith Joseph in the development of Conservative Party policy on trade unions during the period 1975–1979. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the opening up of parliamentary proceedings to greater public scrutiny in the two decades after the 1832 Reform Act. It examines developments in the publication of parliamentary debates, considering why proposals for an official parliamentary record were rejected in the 1830s. It also discusses two less well-studied but equally vital means of publicising parliamentary activity: the publication of official division lists and the sale to the public of parliamentary papers. It argues that the 1830s was a critical decade of change, influenced by shifting perceptions of the relationship between the reformed house of commons and those it sought to represent. This was driven, in particular, by liberal notions of the importance of parliamentary accountability to public opinion: MPs were increasingly aware of the need to keep constituents informed of their parliamentary activities, whether in the chamber, committee room or division lobby. This article also highlights the extent to which the Commons' approach to publicising its activities was constrained not only by the fact that it remained a breach of parliamentary privilege to publish reports of debates, but also by the physical space that the Commons occupied. The destruction of much of the old Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834 provided an important opportunity to remodel existing arrangements, notably with the addition of a second division lobby and the construction of a reporters' gallery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the British approach to the so-called refugee question within the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) of Cyprus. By drawing on examples from 1974-1975, 1998, and 2015, this paper will show that it is a policy of detachment that connects and defines the British response to this question in their attempt to successfully overcome the issues of precedent and responsibility that are so intertwined with refugee problems. This paper will highlight the importance of what has been termed the detached ideal: contain, manage, and remove. Each step involves balancing pain against gain, action against reaction, and if needed, one side over the other, in the pursuit of the least damaging way of solving this problem. Ultimately, what this paper shows is that in addressing the refugee question on Cyprus, the British government would much rather face criticism outside of its borders rather than issues within them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the author talks about the industrial strategy published by the Great Britain's government that will bridge the gap between its productive companies, industries, places and people.

The article focuses on the White Paper on the " Central Organisation for Defence" laid before British Parliament in October 1946. This outlined three alternative schemes by which a unified defence policy could be achieved; amalgamation of all three armed services under a single Minister; the establishing of a Combined General Staff; or the establishment of a single Minister for Defence, with a ministry to which the three service ministries and the Chiefs of Staff would be subordinate. In due course there was established a Ministry of Defence with a Minister, responsible to Parliament for the apportionment of resources between the three Services; for general administration of matters where a common policy for the three Services seemed desirable; and for the administration of inter-Service organisations such as Combined Operations Headquarters and the Joint Intelligence Bureau.

In 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition placed a moratorium on airport expansion in the south-east of England. In office, however, it has faced a sustained political campaign from supporters of the aviation industry and expansion, leading to the appointment in September 2012 of the Davies Commission on airport capacity. This paper critically evaluates this nascent policy reversal in aviation policy, analysing the political backlash in favour of expansion and the political mediation of such demands by the Coalition. It argues that while the shifting political context has placed new pressures on the coalition, its current difficulties cannot be divorced from the continued resonance of the logic of aviation expansion embedded in British institutions at the end of the Second World War. The paper concludes with an assessment of the challenges facing the Davies Commission, the coalition and campaigners, when set against the continued 'grip' of aviation on our collective consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the context for the development of the concept of responsive regulation, namely the transcending of the deregulation debate. It argues that claims regarding responsive regulation when allied to risk-based rationales for enforcement can, in fact, allow a 'deregulatory' momentum to develop. This argument is grounded with reference to a case study of the regulation of workplace health and safety in the UK, with a particular focus upon the period 2000-2010. The paper casts doubt on the relevance and robustness of the concept of responsive regulation. In a context that might have been fertile ground for developing genuinely responsive regulatory policy, empirically we find the development of policies that are better described as 'regulatory degradation.' Thus we argue in this paper that, whatever the intentions of its proponents, there is a logical affinity between responsive regulation, and effective de-regulation, and that it is this affinity that has provided a convenient political rationale for the emergence of a neo-liberal regulatory settlement in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes and explains the important role of the Conservative Government of 1959–1964 in supporting the raising of the school leaving age in Britain from the age of 15 to 16. This was a significant and high-profile national issue that generated much educational, social and political debate around conflicting priorities during this period, and was emphasized in both the Crowther Report of 1959 and the Newsom Report of 1963. The Treasury was strongly opposed to the proposal due to its high financial cost. There was a large element of electoral opportunism involved in the Conservative Government’s approval of raising the school leaving age (ROSLA), announced in January 1964, but it also highlighted deeper complexities and reservations in Conservative attitudes to ROSLA as well as a long-term ambition to consolidate education as a Conservative issue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a view of a changing landscape of both society and politics. First of all it will briefly situate current practices and methods of political engagement and representation within a recent historical framework. It will describe factors that are at work in relation to politics, the media and civil society and then situate these within a broader societal shift from citizen to consumer. Following this the paper will identify some key shifts in this modus operandi that hint at a return to more civic-focused responsibility, the emergence of issues-based politics and the role that digital media have played in this. Finally, the paper will describe how citizen-driven, issues-based politics might connect with the systems of power in a more effective and democratic way by harnessing digital media and by building on local skills, knowledge and ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the thesis of the agenda setting function, both the media and the political parties influence what people think about, if not what they think. Newspaper and television editors make judgements of news priorities, the judgements of one editor influence the views of another, and the result is a media consensus that affects the public's sense of the importance of various issues. Parties' formulation of preferences and priorities through their manifestos aims at promoting each party's proprietary issues and downgrading other issues; this clearly turns the electorate's attention to specific topics. This paper explores the extent to which voters, political parties, and media in Britain share the same issue concerns and reveals which of the two--parties or media--is better at influencing what the public is talking about. Content analyses of party manifestos and press coverage of the 2001 election campaign identify the issues most strongly emphasized by the parties and the press, respectively. Analysis of survey data from the British Election Study 2001/2002 identifies the issues voters are mostly concerned with and enables public opinion's issue concerns to be related to both party manifestos and the press coverage of the campaign. The paper also tests whether the political priorities of British parties are adopted by their own supporters, it explores the extent to which voters are concerned with issues that are not emphasized by the party they vote for, and finally, it explores which party's issues dominated the public agenda in 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the voting motivations of Conservative parliamentarians in the final ballot of the Conservative Party leadership election of 1997. Conservative parliamentarians had a clear choice between the political characteristics and the ideological disposition of the candidates. Should they endorse a senior, experienced and electorally attractive candidate, Kenneth Clarke, or a junior, inexperienced and less electorally attractive candidate, William Hague? and should they endorse the socially liberal, economic damp, and Europhile Clarke or the socially conservative, economic and Eurosceptic Hague? By constructing a data set of the voting behaviour of Conservative parliamentarians in the final party leadership ballot, this paper seeks, through the use of bivariate analysis, to test a series of hypotheses relating to the political characteristics and ideological disposition of the candidates vis-à-vis their electorate. The paper demonstrates that attitudes to the European ideological divide alone do not fully explain the rejection of Clarke and the endorsement of Hague. The paper concludes that ideological disposition was a key determinant of voting behaviour across all three of the ideological determinants of post-Thatcherite Conservatism (i.e. the social, sexual and morality policy divide, the economic policy divide and the European policy divide). Moreover, it confirms that ideology was not the sole determinant of voting behaviour; the political characteristics of age and parliamentary experience were significant in explaining how a youthful, inexperienced, Thatcherite Eurosceptic secured the party leadership.British Politics (2008) 3, 63–91. doi:10.1057/palgrave.bp.4200079 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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