{"title":"A Speech to Win an Election: A Response to Rachel Reeves's Mais Lecture","authors":"Dan Corry","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13430","url":null,"abstract":"Rachel Reeves gave the Mais lecture in March 2024. While it was rightly cautious and light on detail given the impending general election, it gives us strong clues as to what kind of Chancellor of the Exchequer she will be.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"54 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141649910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Trust in the Police: What is to be Done?","authors":"B. Bradford, Jonathan Jackson","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13424","url":null,"abstract":"Trust in the police in England and Wales has diminished steadily over the past decade. Police still enjoy levels of trust that other some institutions might envy, so calling this a crisis risks over‐statement. Yet, declining trust and intense media, political and social pressure on police—symbolised by a number of high‐profile instances of police failure and malpractice—certainly makes many working in and around policing feel like it is a crisis. And trust has gone down; action is needed to protect the idea of policing by consent, the bedrock ideology that underpins British policing. In this article, we review some potential solutions to declining trust, while also acknowledging some costs and difficulties. We close by noting that, despite its importance, public trust is not enough to ensure ‘good policing’, and that more is needed in terms of transparency, accountability and governance.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"31 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141659777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Flinders, Sarah Ayres, John Boswell, Paul Cairney, C. Durose, Ian C. Elliott, Steve Martin, Liz Richardson
{"title":"Power with Purpose? Further Reflections on Strengthening the Centre of Government","authors":"M. Flinders, Sarah Ayres, John Boswell, Paul Cairney, C. Durose, Ian C. Elliott, Steve Martin, Liz Richardson","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13420","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13420","url":null,"abstract":"On 10 March 2024 the Commission on the Centre of Government published its final report: Power with Purpose. The aim of the commission had been to explore why Number Ten, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not always work as well as they should and to explore what could be done to improve the centre of government radically. Perennial concerns about the existence of a ‘hollow crown’ at the centre of British government were, the final report recommended, to be resolved through the implementation of a ‘radical’ reform agenda. This article interrogates the commission's proposals from a critical perspective and builds upon existing concerns as to the viability of further centralising power in Whitehall. It achieves this by reflecting on an understanding of why history, criticality, governance, evidence and relationships matter when seeking to cope with complexity or when designing genuinely ‘radical’ new governance capabilities. It is argued that a full appreciation of these factors is essential to any project to strengthen the core executive and offers a more balanced, relational and systemic approach to nurturing strategic capacity in government.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"15 23","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141659906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Policing, Politics and Prejudice: A Participant Observer's Reflections","authors":"Neil Basu","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13423","url":null,"abstract":"Robert Reiner famously wrote that the public get the police they deserve. Arguably, the police also get the public they deserve. Sir Robert Peel and his Commissioners Rowan and Mayne said that legitimacy relies on consent and that consent demands the public has trust and confidence in the police. A police service asking for that privilege must be professional and understand its role of service and protection. To do this well, it needs to be humble, but policing has lost its humility and no longer understands these concepts (if it ever did). Yet, we also need to consider how the public sees the police. Press and politics have a disproportionate effect on the reputation of the police that is often globalised and catastrophised from the actions of relatively few. This cannot be an excuse for poor policing, but a sense of balance has to be restored if society is to get the policing it deserves. There is a danger, not yet existential, that the actions of a minority of officers, the thoughtless interventions of irresponsible politicians and the disproportionate reporting of a client rather than free press is undermining the model of consent. Before policing can demand a balanced critique from politicians and press, though, it must get its house in order, and this article offers straightforward solutions in recruitment, vetting, and training to solve its current problems. Less straightforward is a demand for changes to a culture which is not fit for purpose.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":" 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141678065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Not Just a Numbers Game: Assessing the Journey of Women in Policing from Representation to Inclusion","authors":"Sarah Charman","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13421","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13421","url":null,"abstract":"A focus on improvements to the recruitment rates of women in policing in England and Wales simplifies the issue of organisational integration and hides the complex task of addressing the structural and cultural gendered inequalities running throughout the service. This article considers the structural barriers to women's progression within the police service and presents a cultural analysis of the impact of this environment on women's organisational inclusion. It concludes by suggesting that a different style of policing, one which prioritises fairness and compassion, might have a positive impact on all of those serving as police officers in England and Wales.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"3 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141700994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Changing Attitudes, Changing Coalitions: The Politics of Immigration Before and After Brexit","authors":"Robert Ford","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13416","url":null,"abstract":"The British political landscape on immigration before Brexit had a number of stable features: the public disliked migration and politicians from both main parties tended to accept (if not actively support) higher migration levels than voters preferred. This mismatch generated electoral disruption when the issue rose up the agenda—in particular through mobilisation on the radical and far right—and this initially intense public scepticism was gradually being eroded by demographic change. Brexit has fundamentally changed this landscape, triggering major shifts in both public opinion and electoral competition over immigration. In this article, the past politics of immigration in Britain are reviewed, with an explanation of how and why Brexit prompted change. The implications of the new politics of immigration for the upcoming general election and beyond are also considered.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"24 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141335972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Case for a Scottish Clarity Act","authors":"Steph Coulter","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13417","url":null,"abstract":"The recent political difficulties faced by the Scottish National Party have made the prospect of a future Scottish independence referendum less salient in both Westminster and Holyrood. However, whilst the short‐term prospects for the independence movement look challenging, the long‐term question of Scotland's future within the UK remains an important area of analysis for constitutional policy makers and scholars alike. This article seeks to add to the debate on the future of the UK's territorial constitution by arguing for the passage of a ‘Scottish Clarity Act’ by the UK government, which would outline the rules about when and how a future Scottish independence referendum should be conducted. Using the Canadian Clarity Act 2000 as an international example of the constitutionalising of secession, it argues that there are numerous benefits associated with providing greater clarity on Scotland's constitutional future, including the dampening of polarisation, the mitigation of constitutional crisis, the improvement of governance and the bolstering of democracy in the UK.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":"72 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141350397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘Full‐Fat, Semi‐Skimmed or Skimmed?’ The Political Economy of Immigration Policy since Brexit","authors":"James Hampshire","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13413","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13413","url":null,"abstract":"Since the European Union referendum in 2016, UK net migration has increased to record levels. Despite the Leave campaign's promise to ‘take back control’—and a Conservative government that has adopted increasingly negative rhetoric about immigration—growing numbers of workers and international students have migrated to the UK. This apparent puzzle can be explained by examining the political economy of immigration policy. The UK economy is structurally dependent on migrants who take up jobs that British citizens shun and who address skills shortages caused by under‐investment in training and education, as well as international students who help finance UK universities. As free movement came to an end, the Johnson government responded by liberalising immigration policy selectively. More recently, political pressure from the right has prompted the Sunak government to adopt policies that restrict the rights of migrant workers, international students and many British citizens to live with their families.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":" 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141367037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lucy Mayblin, T. Davies, Arshad Isakjee, Joe Turner, T. Yemane
{"title":"Small Boats, Big Contracts: Extracting Value from the UK's Post‐Brexit Asylum ‘Crisis’","authors":"Lucy Mayblin, T. Davies, Arshad Isakjee, Joe Turner, T. Yemane","doi":"10.1111/1467-923x.13412","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13412","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses post‐Brexit asylum policy in the UK. On the surface, Brexit had little impact on asylum, but Brexit, combined with the new phenomenon of small boat Channel crossings, created the conditions for a new and extreme UK policy agenda. It explains how politicians have sought to deliver border sovereignty performatively after Brexit by introducing extreme measures, ostensibly—though not practically—to stop small boat Channel crossings, and how private actors have sought to profit from people seeking asylum within this policy regime. These interrelated political and financial interests are pursued irrespective of the fact that none of the policies being advanced will ‘stop the boats’.","PeriodicalId":504210,"journal":{"name":"The Political Quarterly","volume":" 72","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141367251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}