The Mid Staffs scandal asks a number of serious questions about failures to raise the alarm over standards of care. Yet even without legislation, other countries have a better record on whistleblowing - why?
The electoral system enshrines a duopoly that continues to crumble, while UKIP grow ever closer to their first parliamentary seat. They are no longer a fun sideshow - it is time to scrutinise them properly.
• Children routinely strip-searched in England & Wales child prisons and secure children’s homes despite government pledge to stop• Nearly half were of Black or ethnic minority background, some as young as 12• Serco’s Ashfield child prison, holding 400 boys, stripped 399 boys-a-month
Loach's new film, Spirit of '45, is an impassioned account of the unity that built the post-war welfare state, contrasted with the dismantling we are witnessing today. Oliver Huitson talks to him about the film, welfare, Thatcher, the unions and the modern Labour party. Can we recapture the spirit
We need to consider both the amount we pay for the NHS and also what we mean by the "culture" problem - the culture in question is commercial culture. Why then are we reorganising the whole NHS on commercial lines?
Last week, David Elstein, chairman of the Broadcasting Policy Group and openDemocracy, criticised two key proposals on press regulation following the Leveson Report. Here is his piece, published with responses from Nigel Warner, author of the 'Life after Leveson' IPPR pamphlet, and Brian Cathcart,
Since last weeks big report from Cutcher & Reynolds, the section 75 legislation introducing compulsory tendering to NHS services has hit the headlines but the battle is far from over. Here's a quick roundup of what's happened.
On 17th March when there will be a satellite Q&A with Ken Loach on his new film, Spirit of '45, a powerful call to rediscover the values that built the post-war state. Loach will be joined by Owen Jones, Dot Gibson and more.
With increased use of outsourcing, particularly in the NHS, campaigners want to bring private contractors under FoI legislation. At the same time the government is considering restricting access to information due to alleged abuse. Which direction should FoI be travelling?
It isn't enough that we aren't Thatcherites and free-marketeers, visions of the sort of Scotland we want to build must escape the confines of current conservatism and move beyond oppositional formulations. Scotland must be a positive proposition.
A new grassroots network launches this week with the twin aims of scrapping Trident and persuading the UK to join other governments in multilateral negotiations to achieve a global treaty banning nuclear weapons. If we get our strategies right, the peace movement can win this one, says Rebecca Joh
