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Showing 4611 to 10 of 5057 results

Minister makes good speech shock

Blog

10 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

Occasionally I help politicians with speeches. It’s mainly my old chums in Labour’s ranks but I have been quoted by the odd Conservative too. It’s usually a frustrating process. Before I went into Number Ten, Tony Blair’s speech writing team commissioned me to author a whole speech to the TUC. I spent days on it but when I settled back to listen to my work being delivered by the great man all that remained was one rather pathetic joke.
Responding to the Myners' strike

Blog

10 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

Thanks to Duncan, Steve, Michael and Colin for their advice ahead of my gig last night at the Corporate Governance Circle. I was responding to a forthright speech to the always engaging and direct Lord Myners (who, gratifyingly, had also read the post and comments). I knew less about the subject - ‘Institutional Investors – are they the weakest link’ - than anyone else in the room but I think I just about got away with it.
Institutional investors - help, please

Blog

09 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

It is a welcome relief to post about matters other than the Labour Party. And today I am asking for help. Tonight I have to respond to Lord Myners after he has spoken on the topic ‘Institutional Investors – The Weakest Link’.
Labour Party woes: only connect

Blog

08 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

On Friday the Observer asked me for 100 words on Labour’s problems. They only used the last forty, but this is what I sent:
The cabinet's big gamble

Blog

05 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

Here, for what it’s worth, are my thoughts about this bizarre unfolding day of politics. First, expect the unexpected. Over the last two years no one predicted the huge swings of the political pendulum. Brown’s position was so strong in his first few months he nearly called an early election. He then went into free fall before starting to pull things back last autumn as the Conservative response to the credit crunch faltered. Then, in the last few weeks, in the wake of McBride and MPs’ expenses, Brown has taken Labour to new depths of support.
Voting - an overrated activity

Blog

04 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

In the debate over political renewal we need to think more clearly and boldly about representative democracy. There are two big problems. Firstly, voting in elections is no more than an opportunity every few years to get rid of a party we feel has failed in government and replace it with one we dislike slightly less. When we vote we are notionally signing up to every policy in our chosen party’s manifesto. Imagine how popular supermarkets would be if we had to choose only one to go to, then whichever won the vote (even though only 1 in 4 of those entitled to vote had chosen the winner) we would be required to buy everything at that store for the subsequent four years. Elections are merely a backstop not the basis for informed public consent.
A new politics - it's about content as well as process

Blog

04 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

I am quoted in this morning’s Guardian in a link to a longer piece. Here it is.
I'm knackered, smelly and very happy

Blog

03 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

Today was the RSA civic day and fifty or so staff members trooped off to Hackney to paint over graffiti, pick up litter and drag stuff out of the canal.
Corporate responsibility - it's a matter of desire

Blog

02 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

I chaired a seminar here this morning jointly hosted with the up and coming brand communication consultancy TLG. The focus was sustainable and ethical business, but as is often the case with these things, it was hard to get past the motherhood and apple pie declarations of corporate goodwill. I came away thinking that it is in the sphere of product development and marketing that the real test of corporate responsibility lies.
MPs' expenses - did it have to be this bad?

Blog

01 Jun 2009

Matthew Taylor

I thought I would share an argument I have now had with quite a few people. In it I say it would have been possible to frame the MPs’ expenses saga to make its impact more manageable. Just about everyone I have spoken to disagrees, maintaining that the expenses claims were so intrinsically awful they were bound to be lead to this seemingly endless crisis.

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Blogs & articles

The RSA Blog

Comment articles

Minister makes good speech shock

Responding to the Myners' strike

Institutional investors - help, please

Labour Party woes: only connect

The cabinet's big gamble

Voting - an overrated activity

A new politics - it's about content as well as process

I'm knackered, smelly and very happy

Corporate responsibility - it's a matter of desire

MPs' expenses - did it have to be this bad?