Politics and Trust

Abstract

I’ve been asked to speak briefly today about trust in public and political life, and the extent to which there has been a genuine decline in public trust over the last few years. To cut a long story short, I believe there has been something of a decline, although its properties may be a little different from those that some commentators have detected. I also believe that some of the remedies proposed for the decline are somewhat misconceived. In that context, let me begin by welcoming today’s report, which, as well as being a solid piece of work and a good read, brings together many aspects of the issue which are often neglected in debate