Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
Why do ethnic minorities still face discrimination in gaining employment?, asks Ken Clark. The issue of racial prejudice in British society has been in the news recently. Under the headline Racism on the rise in Britain, the Guardian reported on data from the British Social Attitudes Survey which showed that the proportion of respondents describing […]
By Rob Ford, Mark Pickup, Will Jennings and Christopher Wlezien Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted:
As explained in the previous inaugural election forecast last month, up until May next year the Polling Observatory team will be producing a long term forecast for the 2015 General Election, using methods first applied ahead of the 2010 election (and which are also well-established in the United States). The method employed involves trying to make the […]
By Andrew Welfle Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
The UK could generate almost half its energy needs by 2050 from UK biomass sources, including household rubbish, agricultural residues and home-grown biofuels. Unless we plan and invest for this, we will waste a great opportunity, argues Andrew Welfle. As much as 44% of our total energy requirement could be met by the potential abundance of […]
As our population ages we need to be making much more effort to make our towns and cities more age-friendly, say Dr Tine Buffel and Sophie Handler. Study after study has shown that people want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible in later life. An attachment to a particular place […]
By Satnam Virdee Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Recovering the hidden history of past anti-racism struggles can help inspire collective action today, explains Professor Satnam Virdee. What is so important about the 1970s when it comes to understanding racism and anti-racism in Britain? The American political scientist Ira Katznelson suggests that to understand social change one should focus on those ‘moments when system creating choices […]
By Steve Furber Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
The development of driverless cars offers a wonderful opportunity to stem the number of road deaths and injuries, explains Professor Steve Furber. The announcement by Google that it is to manufacture driverless cars could herald the greatest improvement in road safety since the car was invented. After all, it takes out of the equation the biggest […]
By David Schultz and Vladimir Janković Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
Policymakers at home and abroad need to stop conflating climate change and climate resiliency, and start doing more to ensure our infrastructure can cope with extreme weather, say Prof David Schultz and Dr Vladimir Janković, High-impact weather events, such as the UK floods earlier this year, are often accompanied by discussion of whether the events were associated with or enhanced by climate change. This view […]
By Rob Ford, Will Jennings, Mark Pickup and Christopher Wlezien Filed Under: Featured, Polling Observatory Posted:
This is the thirty-seventh in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings, Dr Mark Pickup and Prof Christopher Wlezien that report on the state of the parties in the UK as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence, the impact of the random variation that each individual survey inevitably produces […]
By George Kyris Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
The country that suffered the most in the Eurozone crisis is seeking EU reform, not withdrawal, explains Dr George Kyris. The European Parliament elections that have just taken place were arguably the most important in the history of the European Union. The European Parliament has more power than ever before, demands have grown for greater […]
By Maria Sharmina Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
The Ukraine crisis has focused attention on Western Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies. But the significance of Russia’s energy policy is much wider than this – and could be central to the global response to climate change, explains Dr Maria Sharmina. Russia has a pivotal role in shaping the future direction of […]
