The cornerstone of Theresa May’s economic vision for the country, the government’s Industrial Strategy was launched this week. Policy@manchester Co-Director Professor Andy Westwood assesses the size of the challenge, the scale of the strategy’s commitments, and places the strategy in the historical context of recent government efforts to achieve the same ends. Industrial Strategy […]
Less for your money? Differences in essential living costs for poorer families
The recent Bank of England evidence on the record levels of personal debt that have accumulated since the 2008 economic crash highlight the financial vulnerability of many people across the UK. Research by the University of Manchester into everyday living costs for those with limited financial resources is being launched with the End Child Poverty […]
The Shared Society : wellbeing through participation and the need for research
The Prime Minister recently set out her vision for a new ‘shared society’ alongside her promise to transform mental health care. University of Manchester PHD researcher Susan Oman, questions Theresa May’s commitment to mental health research, how it presents opportunities to understand what a sharing society might be, and how it might support improved wellbeing. […]
British values: an oath without meaning?
Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, Sajid Javid, recently agreed with Louise Casey’s recommendations of an oath of integration being introduced not just for arriving migrants,but it should also be taken by all those in public office . However, Dr Bridget Byrne questions what exactly is meant by ‘British values’ and argues that […]
A shared Britain – refugee policy for 2017
To start the year, Dr Jonathan Darling, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography specialising in the politics and ethics of forced migration, and Gulwali Passarlay, Afghan refugee, politics graduate and author of ‘The Lightless Sky’, reflect on how government might support asylum seekers and refugees in 2017. Together, they discuss the challenges of the last year […]
The Prevent duty: can teachers be judges?
Prevent is one of the four Ps that make up the government’s post 9/11 counter-terrorism strategy: Prepare for attacks, Protect the public, Pursue the attackers and Prevent their radicalisation in the first place. Bob Hindle looks at how the Prevent duty is applied in schools and colleges and highlights areas of necessary reform. Teacher decision-making […]
Grand Brexit Strategies – Can Whitehall Cope? A Potted-History of [Not] Joining Government Up
Brexit is a political challenge on an unprecedented scale. The process of exiting the European Union impacts every government department, and requires a level of co-ordination that UK governments have rarely managed to achieve. Here, the University of Manchester’s Dave Richards and the University of York’s Martin Smith survey the size of the challenge facing […]
Failed political predictions and the future of opinion polls
The 2015 UK General Election, the EU Referendum and, most recently, the US Presidential Election all produced results which most major pollsters and media outlets failed to predict. Amongst growing distrust of opinion polls across the Western World, Thomas Loughran considers the use of political opinion polls and where to go from here. The decline […]
So, Where Are We Now? Old, New and Anti-Politics in Britain Today
2016 has been a political rollercoaster. Both the Brexit result and the Trump victory are leading many to question what is happening in our politics and where we go from here. The University of Manchester’s Professor Dave Richards has tracked the rise of the populist ‘anti-politics’ sentiment that has delivered two unprecedented political upsets, and calls […]
Has the UK violated international laws in Yemen conflict?
The recent bombing of a funeral finally drew the world’s attention to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Meanwhile the role that British-made weapons have played in the conflict has been getting increasing media attention. Given the compelling evidence, UK arms export policy urgently needs to change, says Shavana Musa. A major export According to the […]