A remarkable news story , equally remarkably timed for the eve of Gordon Brown's historic speech to the Americans. It seems the UK Government will be bailing out some of the companies that have signed up for Private Finance Initiative deals in order to ensure that the schools and hospitals actually get built. So, if I have this straight, the private sector build public buildings and not only ...

Arnie has signed an executive order as Governor of California, that to balance the budget, thousands of public servants need to be laid off. So far this has been met with a blank refusal to implement the order. We would not do that here, HMG as the true responsible trustee of public funds will just go and borrow more to keep the public sector running at full tilt whilst the private sector just wil...

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and Northgate Public Services have signed a new three-year innovation partnership aimed at promoting and encouraging information exchange between the public and private sectors to deliver positive social care outcomes.

John McCallister MLA, Ulster Unionist Party Spokesperson for Health Social Services and Public Safety has congratulated the Minister for Health Social Services and Public Safety, Michael McGimpsey, as the Health and Social Care (Reform) Bill reached its final stage in the Assembly today. Mr. McCallister believes that the Bill is the most significant piece of legislation to pass through the Assembl...

It's just been revealed that the government will be extending freedom of information to cover some private sector organisations. Those private bodies affected will be some of those who carry out functions on behalf of public authorities. This was disclosed this afternoon by the Justice Minister Michael Wills at a conference organised by the Information Commissioner's Office (the same one...

Social Services are having a well-deserved bad week. We now have a whole new light in which to view their highly organised kidnap of children from Old Labour homes in order to place them, via Family Courts whose secrecy is incompatible with the rule of law, in New Labour homes. And the old line from Yes, Minister that social problems increase in order to occupy the time of the number of social wor...

The endless rows over “cuts” at a time when public spending continues to rise in cash terms highlights yet again the totally different approach to public service by the private and public sectors. In 2008-9 many private sector companies faced declines in their revenue of

At a time when public finances are overstretched, the arrival of private players will shift most of the cost of expanding the number of university places from the public to the private sector

The Commons Speaker Michael Martin was under pressure to resign last night after refusing to join a chorus of apologies for the scandal over MPs' expenses. An attempt by Gordon Brown and David Cameron to start restoring public trust in politicians by saying sorry was wrecked when the Speaker turned his fire on MPs who argued that it was wrong to call in police to investigate the leaking of th...

(Note - I am not 'The Devil's Kitchen') In 1936, Gaetano Salvemini wrote of Italian fascist economic theory that "the State pays for the blunders of private enterprise... Profit is private and individual. Loss is public and social." I can't think of a better description of Hank Paulson's Great Dead Cat Bounce Gambit. Liberty is dead.