
In this open letter the author proposes an election agenda dominated by levelling-up, NHS and Zero-Carbon met from a programme of public spending reductions. He sees a need for this to be explained by an honest evaluation of the challenges facing Government.

by David Fellows This commentary suggests that the UK Government’s new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, should use this pre-election year to pursue a much-needed process of public engagement embracing honest analysis, realistic objectives and meaningful initial progress focused resolutely on the key issues. Politicians can spend too much time stabbing at simple solutions to complex…

By David Fellows Achieving the PM’s five priorities for 2023 will not win the general election although, having committed to them, failure to deliver will surely finish him. Raising the corporation tax in the next budget would also be destructive. But people do understand that resolving the complex problems facing the country is crucial to…

Posted by David Fellows ABSTRACT This paper updates an earlier paper ‘Levelling-up through economic growth (a business strategy for the regions)’ published in April this year that examined the nature of the Prime Minister’s levelling-up commitment. This paper suggests that for the past four decades most UK regions have experienced deliberate and destructive economic neglect…

Review by David Fellows of: ‘Public Finance and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Lessons from Ethiopia’s reforms’ by Stephen B Peterson PhD, Professor of Public Finance, Melbourne School of Government, Published by Routledge This is a remarkable book. It has the ring of coruscating honesty which is unique in my experience of case-based literature that…