Author Archives: Nick Barlow

The way forward: We need a pause to properly respond

By Nick Barlow | Fri 13th December 2019 - 12:32 pm

We’re all hurting today. The election result might not have been completely terrible – our vote share went up! – but it’s not been a good campaign for us, the results are far below what we wanted or expected, we’ve lost our leader, and we’re now going to be leaving the EU in just seven weeks’ time.

The easy response would be for us to dust ourselves down, elect a new leader as quickly as possible and dive straight back into the fight, but I think that would be a mistake. Last night was a massive moment for us as a …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged political strategy | 84 Comments

Eric Pickles’ 50 money-saving ideas show that he has no idea about local government

By Nick Barlow | Fri 21st December 2012 - 1:53 pm

Wedenesday saw the announcement of the local government funding settlement for 2013-14. As expected, councils across England will be facing even more cuts in their already-stretched budgets, and wondering just how they continue to deliver services in the face of ever-widening budget gaps. (See here or here for examples of how a funding squeeze and rising costs are impacting councils)

Of course, local government should be glad that we have a Secretary of State who understands the issues affecting the sector and is prepared to fight its cause in Whitehall while puncturing some of the myths that are propagated …