Analysis

Why the UK government’s plan to overturn court decisions is a bad idea.

— Plans by the government to regularly overturn court decisions are the perfect way to avoid accountability, undermine independent scrutiny and weaken the role of the courts in holding the government to account.

Analysis

Debunking key myths about Britain’s ‘broken asylum system’.

— The British government is making specific choices about the way it presents data on Channel crossings.

Downing Street Parties

Downing Street Christmas party: Four key takeaways from the leaked Allegra Stratton video.

— The aesthetics of Allegra Stratton’s mock press conference made the revelations coming out of it so much worse.

COVID-19

A year of COVID vaccines: how the UK pinned its hopes on the jab – and why those hopes are under threat.

— The UK has been rolling out COVID vaccines for a year. It’s been quite a ride.

Omicron Variant

Will Omicron be more contagious than Delta? A virus evolution expert explains what researchers know and what they don’t.

— It’s too early to say whether the newly identified Omicron variant is going to overtake Delta. But particular mutations in the new strain have researchers deeply concerned.

Brexit

Brexit discredited.

— Brutal but fair, Professor Chris Grey’s Brexit analysis of the strange case of Thatcherite Brexiters and the incoherent post-Brexit strategy their misunderstandings of markets and regulation have led to.

Analysis

Labour reshuffle: Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet exudes confidence – but the party’s left has been shut out.

— What’s behind the appointments to Labour’s front bench?

Analysis

Reintroducing masks in England may be met with resistance – Here’s how the government can overcome it.

— Inconsistent rules, those in charge setting a poor example, and feeling rebellious are all factors that may prevent people from wearing a mask.

Omicron Variant

Why the WHO designated Omicron a variant of concern.

— Lessons have been learned of the importance of acting quickly to nip dangerous new variants in the bud, or at least to slow their spread to buy the world some time.

Brexit

The joke isn’t funny anymore.

— Boris Johnson’s reputation may have reached a tipping point, but ‘Brexitification’ is pervasive and nowhere more evident than in the vile politics of the cross-channel migration tragedy.

Omicron Variant

How Omicron was found and what we know so far.

— There’s a new COVID lineage called B.1.1.529. The World Health Organization called it Omicron as it declared it a “variant of concern” because it has a genetic profile very different from other circulating variants.

Analysis

‘I don’t feel like a person anymore’ – The emotional side of claiming universal credit.

— Being on universal credit affects people in more ways than just financial.

Brexit

A pause to reflect.

— With the Northern Ireland Protocol talks looking set to continue, some reflections on how narratives of the success and failure of Brexit are developing and how these will eventually coalesce into a ‘received image’.

Analysis

Sleaze: Why Boris Johnson is being reminded of the lurid scandals of 1990s Britain.

— There are important similarities between the current PM’s woes and John Major’s – but a very important difference, too.

COVID-19 Vaccines

Novavax COVID vaccine is nearing approval – What impact will it have?

— Beset by delays, this vaccine is becoming available when low-income countries are desperately short of doses.

Brexit

Welcome to Brexit 2.0.

— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis, looking at different scenarios arising from the Article 16 threat, how that threat is an attempt to re-run the Brexit process and the political implications of doing so for Johnson and for Labour.