First, we need to value and protect existing social infrastructure. Greater investment is needed, particularly in those communities that have the poorest social infrastructure; and a good starting point is to map what assets exist. 'Recognising the rich resources that may already exist’

But this is being eroded. Over the last decade, there has been a quiet reduction in social infrastructure assets either from closure, sales or poor maintenance – playing fields and play areas, children centres and youth services, libraries and arts facilities have all been affected to name but a few. As well as a loss of assets, our collective sense of the value of commonly owned social infrastructure has reduced and public support for the welfare state has declined.She speaks on many different platforms on civil society matters, including abroad, and is a regular commentator in the media. We’re also calling on anyone concerned about threats to our democratic space to come together to defend it. We need an effort that bridges party politics and crosses sectors – civil society, business, the arts, media and more. If you’d like to join us, do get in touch. The Climate Emergency Byline Times‘ coverage of the consequences of, and responses to, the climate crisis

Now, they split their time between the capital and the house in a forest east of Yoxford – spending three or four days a week in Suffolk. We welcome anyone who is attracted by our thinking, people at the frontline of practice as well as thought leaders from across public, private and voluntary spheres. I remember seeing him just before he died. He was very thin and in a dressing gown, but that didn’t stop him drinking champagne and moaning about the Government. And when he uses the word ‘we’ I think that word does include the Prime Minister. And also, this was in the Prime Minister’s garden. Especially given this was obviously breaking rules, he would have had to have discussed it with the Prime Minister.”

Much more than meets the eye in this book – really interesting on women and power in the present day as well as Thatcher and her time. Mishal Husain I had long conversations with one of the two writers, Jonathan Lynn, in 1978 and 1979 about what civil servants were like, before Yes Minister came out. He was then the director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and I’d written a play, Outside In, about a civil servant in the health service who stays at home because he can’t see any point in going to work. Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, said it is “something we need to get to the bottom of” because a lot of what goes on in government departments is “sensitive and important”.

Caroline thinks Theresa May shares a number of qualities with our previous female Prime Minister: “Being prepared to be unpopular, and determined against all odds to drive things through; personally courageous, and stepping up to what some people are calling a poisoned chalice… women taking on a difficult job men largely won’t do.” People who believe in prevention need to attend not just to the child (and the adult the child later becomes) but also to ‘the villages’ in which we all live.For all its faults, this portrayal of Margaret Thatcher drills down to the essence of her character. If you can get past the “truth decay”, which seeps into the scenes conjured up in creator Peter Morgan’s mind, there are certainly some truths which cannot be ignored. John says: “We fell in love on either end of civil service phones, talking about civil service reform. Caroline was in the Cabinet Office and I was at DWP (Department of Work and Pensions).

Full of fascinating insight into the daily life of No 10. Poignant, hugely interesting [with] superb personal accounts. Pennant Magazine A remarkable political and personal memoir, People Like Us charts the dying days of Thatcher’s No. 10 and reflects on women and power, then and now.

We fell in love talking about civil service reform! (Truly)

She is one of the co-founders and co-Chairs of the network, Women in Public Policy, which aims to get more women involved in Public Life. Anoutstanding new biography... this remarkable, beautifully-written account of the decline and fall of Britain's first woman prime minister is a book about the deeply complex relationship between femininity and real, hard power: the clash between testosterone-driven male egos and a woman who had to manage them and simultaneously protect herself from them. It's a great read and I could not recommend it more highly. Richard and Judy, Daily Express We talk about poverty and income inequalities but some places are very much richer in social infrastructure than others and this also makes a real difference to personal health and well-being, equality and opportunity.