When I was growing up the north east was the UK’s industrial powerhouse. Quite literally: the coal which fed the power stations which fuelled our industry was beneath our feet. Across Newcastle, the end of the school year would see...
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In the wake of the Francis Report into the shocking failures at Stafford hospital, it's not an easy time to talk about Labour's vision for the NHS. Of course we love the NHS - that is as true as the...
Here is a question I encounter all too often as Shadow Minister for Culture: how do you value a library?
There are a few ways of doing it. You can look at profit and loss: by that measure libraries, along with...
According to what one could call the ‘golden age narrative’, social democracy is a political ideology that came to fruition in the post-war decades but has since run up against its limited shelf life. This narrative plainly does not fit...
Labour is slowly moving from mere response mode to feeling out more concrete terrain on what its next state may look like. Some have argued they have taken too long to make this transition but, the publicity (and departmental research...
Andy Burnham’s plan to integrate health and social care is the boldest idea to emerge from Labour’s policy review so far. If he can convince his shadow cabinet colleagues to back it, can he convince the country in 2015? “The...