Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Andrew Karvonen Filed Under: All posts, Featured, Urban Posted:
Last month the UK government announced that it was abandoning its 2016 commitment to require all new housing in England and Wales to be zero carbon. Here Andrew Karvonen looks at the possible impact of that decision. In ‘Fixing the Foundations: Creating a More Prosperous Nation’, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne cited the zero carbon […]
By Armando Barrientos Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
In the second of our series on the United Nations negotiations over Sustainable Development Goals, to be held in New York later this month, Armando Barrientos says new thinking is required. Perhaps the greatest failing of the Millennium Development Goals was their focus on aid as the main financing tool for development. This ‘cosmopolitan’ perspective has […]
Alex Waddington reflects on how a case for the benefits of blogging at The University of Manchester is gradually being made – with one big and very notable success story. When Manchester Policy Blogs first launched in 2013, me and Prof Colin Talbot wrote an introductory post which reflected that although our University “carr[ies] out […]
By Iain Brassington Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
As the Assisted Dying Bill is due to be discussed in the Commons today, Ian Brassington asks if we are taking the right approach. When Rob Marris’ Assisted Dying Bill is discussed in the Commons, it will be the latest in a number of attempts to make some form of assistance in dying legal in […]
By Sarah Steeg and Dr Pauline Turnbull Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
A new study has shown just how high the risks of suicide and all-cause death can be for patients who have self-harmed. Here Sarah Steeg and Pauline Turnbull, joint authors of the study, explain that it is not all bad news. Using real-world data on people who go to hospital emergency departments following self-harm, we […]
By David Hulme Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
In New York the finishing touches are being made to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are due to replace the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Here David Hulme explores what they might mean. With 17 goals, 167 targets and perhaps more than 1,000 indicators those finishing touches remain a large task. The idea behind […]
By Daniel Dresner Filed Under: All posts Posted:
Daniel Dresner explores the fallout from the Ashley Maddison hack. Whether or not the Ashley Madison incident is a technical hack or the work of an insider with too much access and an axe to grind, web site hacks are a daily occurrence. In fact we are probably becoming desensitised to the main gist of […]
By Rob Ford and Maria Sobolewska Filed Under: All posts, Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Academics Rob Ford and Maria Sobolewska have written an open letter, reproduced below and signed by 365 people, asking Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Teresa May urging them to do more to help the thousands of refugees currently trying to make their way across Europe. Rt Hon David Cameron MP 10 Downing Street London […]
By Tanja Müller Filed Under: All posts, Europe, Featured Posted:
As the migration crisis continues to rock Europe, Tanja Müller looks back at a story from the Second World War, to see what the past can teach about current attitudes to those trying to make it to Europe for a better life. It has become a common trope to describe the current movement of people […]
By James Pattison Filed Under: All posts Posted:
Should governments send weapons or troops to conflicts in other countries? Professor James Pattison compares the ethics of supplying arms with militarily intervention. Western states are less likely to wage major wars in the future. This is for (at least) four reasons. First, despite ongoing conflicts, the world is generally more peaceful. Second, the US’s […]