Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Peter Mackereth Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
In the last days of the old Parliament, MPs agreed that from May next year cigarettes may only be sold in plain packaging. Dr Peter Mackereth congratulates politicians for their willingness to stand up to the tobacco industry, but warns the companies are fighting back. Almost a quarter of children aged 11 to 15 in […]
By Jonathan Darling Filed Under: All posts, Devo, Featured, Urban Posted:
Government policy towards asylum seekers is being challenged. Dr Jonathan Darling asks if this should become part of the debate on the devolution of powers. Disagreements between local authorities and the Home Office over asylum seeker dispersal numbers and arrangements have a long-standing history in Britain. Yet recently they have garnered greater media attention due […]
By Kieron Flanagan Filed Under: All posts, Devo, Featured Posted:
The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Materials Research and Innovation is good news for Northern England, but reform of research funding is needed to create a sustainable scientific ‘powerhouse’ in the North, argues Dr Kieron Flanagan. Chancellor George Osborne has made much in recent months of his ambition to help the cities of Manchester, Leeds, […]
By James Rhodes Filed Under: All posts, Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Chelsea fans’ actions in Paris received media and political condemnation. James Rhodes considers why a report revealing racialised inequalities in UK universities did not. On 17 February, a group of Chelsea football fans travelling on the Paris Metro to a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain were filmed chanting “we’re racist, we’re racist, and that’s […]
If you intend to retire within the next year, then the best course of action may simply be not to, warns John Read. Chancellor George Osborne made a bold claim in last week’s Budget. “Last year I unlocked pensions with freedom for millions of savers,” he said. Yet the reality is very different. That so-called […]
As the General Election campaign hots up and UKIP maintain their strong showing in the polls, former MEP Gary Titley says that pro-Europeans need to snatch back control of the debate, in a battle for Britain’s future. The time has come to make a stand on Europe. For far too long the anti-Europeans have had […]
By Bala Yusuf Yunusa Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
General Elections in Nigeria were postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the 28th March and 11th April 2015. The reason for this postponement is a fractious topic. In my previous blog, I stated that some, especially officials of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were calling for the postponement of the elections […]
By Laurence Brown Filed Under: All posts, Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Social inequalities and racial discrimination powerfully impact on the lives of Britain’s ethnic minorities. These are the two issues that have to be central to any political conversation about race in today’s society. Described by The Times as “among the most important documentaries of the decade” Channel 4’s Things We Won’t Say About Race That […]
By Steve Courtney Filed Under: All posts, Featured Posted:
The academisation of the English state school system has arguably been the most significant structural reform since comprehensivisation hit its peak in the 1970s. The academies programme had its roots in the City Colleges programme, legislated in 1988 but with only 15 opening owing to considerable expectations of investment from the private sector. Its failure […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: All posts, Westminster Watch Posted:
Most of the commentary around the last Budget of this Parliament will, predictably, focus on the contents of George Osborne’s little red briefcase. Few will focus on what might happen afterwards – the Parliamentary procedure for implementing Budgets. That’s because these are usually pretty uncontroversial – Budget announcements usually get ‘rubber stamped’ through Parliament with […]
