Policy@Manchester Articles

Internet provides new threat to employment rights

By Debra Howcroft and Birgitta Bergvall-Kareborn Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 9, 2014

Yesterday shoppers are estimated to have spent almost £500,000 every minute buying Christmas presents online, on what has been dubbed ‘Manic Monday’. Internet technologies are challenging not just commerce, but also employment practices. Amazon provides a ‘crowd employment platform’ that disrupts traditional employer-worker relationships and creates a new class of freelance worker without employment rights, […]

Nuclear energy and society

By Andrew Sherry Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: December 8, 2014

Faced by the challenge of energy security, the UK nuclear industry is recognising the need to engage with society on the case for nuclear power. Professor Andrew Sherry explains. Many areas of science and engineering are difficult to discuss with the public. This is particularly true where views are entrenched and polarised. Nuclear energy […]

Questions remain over Northern future

By Michael Dawson Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 4, 2014

George Osborne announced additional funding for science and culture in the North in his autumn statement, but Michael Dawson of Campaign for the North, a political movement aiming for devo max for the region, says he didn’t go far enough. In the wake of the Autumn Statement, serious questions still need to be answered surrounding […]

Not So Much an Autumn Statement, More a (Tory) Manifesto for a Small State?

By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured Posted: December 3, 2014

Today’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne was both a report card and a manifesto. It was a (self written) report card on the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government that has been in power since May 2010. But it was also a manifesto for the Conservative-only government George Osborne would like to see after May 2015. […]

Where are ethnic inequalities greatest?

By Nissa Finney Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted: December 3, 2014

How ethnic minorities fare compared to the White British varies according to where they live, writes Dr Nissa Finney. She argues that addressing ethnic inequalities is an important local concern. In Manchester, a quarter of ethnic minorities live in overcrowded housing compared to around one in ten of the White British population. The unemployment rate […]

Police and Crime Commissioners – Lessons for devolution?

By Francesca Gains and Vivien Lowndes Filed Under: Featured, Westminster Watch Posted: December 2, 2014

As Chancellor George Osborne finalises arrangements for devolved funding in the run-up to the Autumn Statement, Francesca Gains and Vivien Lowndes ask what can be learnt from the experience of Police and Crime Commissioners in their first two years. Two years ago, 41 directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners for England and Wales took office, […]

Time for better treatment of people with learning disabilities

By Barbara Perry Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 28, 2014

There is more evidence than needed to prove that many people with learning disabilities are treated badly and without respect in NHS-provided facilities, argues Barbara Perry. A campaign is seeking to provide people with learning disabilities, and their families, with stronger legal rights. Eighteen year old Connor Sparrowhawk was found dead in a bath at Slade […]

How can you identify as Irish on the census if you are not white?

By Lindsey Garratt Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted: November 27, 2014

The census allows people to identify as Irish only if they are also white. What about the growing number of ethnic minority Irish?, asks Lindsey Garratt. When I moved to the UK from the Republic of Ireland in August 2012, I filled in an application to privately rent a house. The form contained a question […]

Understanding online threats in the internet age

By David Omand Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 26, 2014

The internet is more than an enabling technology: it also enables criminals and terrorists to do evil in ways that were never before possible, explains Sir David Omand. The internet presents a range of challenges and threats that are new – for the individual, for businesses and for governments. Let us consider human activity today […]

Challenging the myth of religious violence

By Kate Cooper Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 25, 2014

Religion is being wrongly blamed for ‘driving’ global violence, but it is moderate religious voices who are best positioned to address the problem, argues Professor Kate Cooper. The recently published Global Terrorism Index 2013 is being reported as confirming that “religion has become the main driver of terrorism”, surpassing nationalist and other motives. But there […]