COVID-19
— How will the coronavirus pandemic be in 2023? This question is in some ways impossible to answer, given a number of unknowns. One thing is for certain though – the pandemic is not over yet.
Analysis
Our analyses thoroughly examine current events and complex issues, providing nuanced insights into politics, health, economics, and social trends. Supported by evidence-based perspectives from experts, these articles go beyond the headlines to explore underlying causes and impacts, fostering informed discussions on the forces shaping our world.
Voting Rights
— Laws making it more difficult to vote are being introduced around the democratic world, an expert says. They risk undermining democracy.
UK Politics
— Polling only provides a snapshot of the current moment but modelling across decades can help us predict the next election result.
Analysis
— Clowns and jesters have positively contributed to society for centuries. Calling politicians ‘clowns’ is a disservice to them.
Long-Read
— Two years into full Brexit there is a palpable sense of a broken country. Last week’s dishonesty about regulation, foreign policy, and trade, continues the pattern of lies that broke it.
World Cup Qatar 2022
— Soft power is a powerful foreign policy tool. Three countries, in particular, have made the most of it at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Immigration
— Many asylum applications are rejected on grounds that dismiss the dire situations in applicants’ countries of origin.
Cost of Living Crisis
— Widening access to free school meals would be an investment in England’s children.
Long-Read
— With Labour looking like a government in waiting, the understandable caution of its Brexit policy faces calls to be bolder. Actually, it just needs to be more imaginative, Professor Chris Grey argues.
UK Politics
— Controversial new voter ID rules are due to affect local elections in May 2023 despite warnings from officials that there isn’t enough time.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis on why despite last-ditch attempts by Brexiters to redefine ‘success’, the public view has settled that Brexit has failed. But for now, our politics is incapable of responding to the failure of Brexit.
UK Politics
— When civil servants and MPs can’t speak up against ministers, they can’t do their jobs properly.
UK Politics
— With everyone from rail workers to civil servants going on strike over the winter, it’s hard to see this ending well. To say the least, Rishi Sunak’s government is in a very difficult position.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s analysis on how the budget aftermath exposed the costs and the lack of public consensus for Brexit. Some of the revived debate repeats the past, but there is a new context. How Labour responds now is crucial.
Trust in Politics
— The public does not trust British political parties at the moment, particularly not the Tories. This affects their ability to govern because much of governing is about persuading people to do or not to do things, and that becomes impossible if voters believe that they are being lied to all the time.
China Protests
— Young people are angry at COVID restrictions, but also poor job prospects and China’s heavy-handed suppression of free speech. Some protesters are even voicing the unprecedented demand that Xi Jinping steps down.
