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Polls apart: Analysing the forthcoming elections
 By
Nick Moon,
Managing Director, GfK NOP Social Research
Despite all the complaints that he has become out of touch,
Tony Blair showed he still has at least one finger on the
popular pulse when he recognised that a prime motivating
factor in the forthcoming Scottish election was to give him
a good kicking on his way out of the door. There is no doubt
that many Scottish voters will be attracted by the idea of
helping him on his way like a Glasgow pub bouncer seeing
off an unruly customer, and it’s not just the Scots
who are thinking like that – we can see similar factors
at work in the Welsh elections, and in the English locals
as well...
Full article
For the shape of a Gordon Brown government, look towards
Holyrood
 Not
for the first time are the fortunes of a Westminister government
set to be determined by the level of support from the SNP.
Many older hands for Labour in Scotland still hark back to
the motion of confidence in the government of Jim Callaghan
in the early spring of 1979, when the SNP voted with the
opposition and brought down the Government – heralding
the election of Margaret Thatcher...
Full article
Getting products from B to C:
What will the FSA review mean for retail distribution?
 It
has been over six months since the FSA Chairman Sir Callum
McCarthy first suggested that the financial services distribution
model was bust, operating neither in the interests of the
industry nor its customers. And with that proverbial stick
of dynamite the regulator blew open one of the most divisive
industry debates in years – not to mention one of the
FSA's most wide-ranging reviews of the retail market. With
not so much as a public consultation to its name, the FSA's
retail distribution review continues to ruffle industry feathers...
Full article
Will the public drink from the fountain of generic financial
advice?
 Following
the excellent recent Resolution Foundation conference in
March, I have been dipping in and out of the think tank’s
latest report - and have been particularly following the
deliberations regarding the Thoresen review of generic financial
advice...
Full article
Generic Advice – Who Will Pay?
 Like
any other Government driven service, there are two questions
looming over the provision of generic financial advice: how
much will it cost and who is going to pay?...
Full article
Delivering financial capability to those who need it most
 The
Thoresen Review will now fully consider the consultation
submissions on delivering generic financial advice in the
UK as part of the wider strategy to improve financial capability.
There is no doubt that the population would benefit from
a broader base of knowledge about financial matters. The
FSA Baseline Survey, while presenting a mixed picture of
some good and some bad, gave us a very good idea of where
improvement is needed. The trend here is consistent with
one we've seen in other areas—the poorer one is, the
lower the level of financial capability...
Full article
Back to School: Learning to get reforms in education right
 The
Government is currently pushing through a series of ambitious
reforms in 14-19 education. The very fact that so many people
will not have heard about this, given that pilot 14-19 diplomas
across several economic sectors will be starting in less
than 18 months’ time is somewhat worrying. And it is
doubly frustrating given the excellent work that many Sector
Skills Councils have been doing, and the fact that the content
of the policy itself is strong...
Full article |
