John Craig
Associate
John is Director of The Innovation Exchange, which works to grow innovation from the third sector
- Start with people As I sat down with a a government minister, a Guardian journalist and assorted policy super-brains, I really wished I was about to deliver some power-pointed statistics rather than tell a story. That was how we launched Start with People, based on case studies of five community organisations, and happily all at the event responded with generosity. David Lammy MP, Minister for Culture, described his new area of responsibility as 'pro-social behaviour', and spoke about the ongoing challenges... continue reading on 4th July 2005
- When the going get's tough ...the Tories get going. Or so said Alan Milburn on this morning's Jonathan Dimbleby programme, responding to Conservative criticism of the presentation of the case for war. It reminded me of this rant from a disappointed Democrat, in which they argue, "politics is now beyond issues. For Democrats, it?s existential". Had it not been for the war's continued unpopularity, I think we would have seen more of this approach from Labour - playing the Tories at their own game by fusing tough talk... continue reading on 1st May 2005
- Signs of life More random photos from the tube. I participated in a survey yesterday, administered by a computer standing next to me in the queue. It was about personal safety (while I felt safe, turns out the person I was with didn't feel safe at all). I liked the idea, but participation didn't exactly seem popular. What might change this? I think more people would take part if there was a screen graphing the results so far. 'Dynamic' signposting of this kind seems to be everywhere at the moment, not... continue reading on 28th April 2005
- Method in the madness The Conservatives' astounding election posters have naturally attracted a good deal of graffiti. You can even play here at making your own Tory poster [via Crooked Timber]. But it seems now that the establishment is having a go. I saw this advert on the tube yesterday for a solicitors, parodying the posters on the grounds that their areas of expertise include immigration. Possibly the first political message in a long time not to insult my intelligence and it was a legal advert! Is it... continue reading on 22nd April 2005
- Cheap revolution hits learning We talk about the connections between policy and practice but unlike Civitas we haven?t set up our own school. This idea has been more popular in some places than others, but to date it hasn?t got me very excited. However, it is interesting that their aim to build a network of many such ?no frills? private schools is already being achieved by GEMS (Global Education Management Systems). Their ability to save money by pooling all administrative and backhaul functions centrally not only... continue reading on 17th March 2005
- Nothing but politics It seems to have been a good week for the ?independents?. Sir John Stevens exploited his new-found independence with a helpful terror warning and the saga of Margaret?s shoulder rumbles on. Perhaps most importantly, Maria Hutchings has shocked few by appearing on a Conservative platform, backing their stance on SEN. First health now education, what increasingly seems like a Tory strategy is reminiscent of America?s Swift Veteran?s for Truth, whose connections to Republican strategists were... continue reading on 8th March 2005
- Hyperbole-checking According to de Juvenal "the language of politics is the language of priorities" (thank you, Google). I for one have always wondered how many things have been, at some rhetorical stage, Tony Blair's 'top priority'. This is just the kind of problem discussed on the greenhouse before - the knowledge is out there, just not in one place. Today, ThinkProgress post a list of Bush's 'top priorities', all thirty of them. Fact-checking is hardly new, and will continue to grow, but were I a... continue reading on 16th February 2005
- How teachers learn If only we knew what we know. For the last 18 months, Demos has been working in partnership with colleagues at the University of Sussex to understand how good educational practice travels around the system. The results have now been published on the website of the Department for Education and Skills. For me, the findings show that the principles of buzz and conversation preached by bloggers and advertisers have always, given the chance, been practiced by professionals. This was the basic... continue reading on 11th February 2005
- Ignore the elephant It?s either genius or insanity - to my shock, I agreed with David Aaronovitch this week, in his assessment of Labour?s announcements on ?immigration/asylum?, and the phantom sixth pledge that is to follow.So if, as I suggested a fortnight ago, the new Tory proposals on all this are a sort of shadow of the elephant in the living room, then Labour's five-year plan is the shadow of a shadow. It is motivated by fear of the distant prejudice, but daren't acknowledge it. While it may be easier to... continue reading on 10th February 2005
- No man is an island Or at least, not to me. There was a guy on Radio 4?s PM programme this evening (54 mins in) talking about Oliver Letwin?s personal support, along with a more predictable group of MPs, for Conscience, a group campaigning to allow conscientious objectors to require that none of the tax they pay is used for military purposes. His argument was that military action, unlike other government decisions, is ?a question of conscience not of politics?. This is an interesting extension of the idea of... continue reading on 31st January 2005