Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Rob Ford, Mark Pickup and Will Jennings Filed Under: Polling Observatory Posted:
This is the thirty-sixth in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings and Dr Mark Pickup 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 can be […]
By Claire Hoolohan Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
Last week Quorn announced it will invest £30m in its County Durham factory following significant sales growth in recent years. Claire Hoolohan argues that Quorn’s success is a signal to governments, policy makers, academics, and others that the time has arrived to move forward on the sustainable food agenda. Reducing the amount of meat in […]
Against the backdrop of continued policy failures, the time has come to do something that fundamentally changes the way African Caribbean people come into contact with mental health services, says Dr Dawn Edge. Decades of research consistently report that African Caribbean people in the UK are at significantly greater risk of being diagnosed with psychoses […]
By Maria Sobolewska Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Upwardly mobile ethnic minority voters are more likely to turn Tory, claims new research by thinktank Demos. But Dr Maria Sobolewska questions the methodology of the study and the validity of the conclusions. Demos has published a report on whether the Conservatives could avoid Romney’s famous death by demographics, and attract enough ethnic minority votes […]
By Andrew Smith Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:
Statues in our public parks tell us much about the British sense of identity, argues Dr Andrew Smith. Empire is everywhere in Britain, even if it is rarely noticed. Our parks are a case in point. When I walk through Glasgow’s central park, I pass repeated symbols of Victorian imperial glory resting in what has […]
By Daniel Welch and Nicola Spurling Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
Sustainable consumption is all too often framed in terms of individuals’ choices. The social practice perspective offers an alternative model, argue Dr Daniel Welch and Dr Nicola Spurling. “Do you find it easy to follow a sustainable lifestyle? Do you switch off every light? Plan each meal to avoid food waste? Why is behaviour change […]
By Ian Warren Filed Under: Featured Posted:
Examination of public health data shines a welcome light on which communities suffer the least – and most – violence, explains Ian Warren. People living in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods are less likely to suffer an assault than are residents of areas with little or no racial diversity. This is one of the striking results of […]
By Hannah Quirk Filed Under: Featured Posted:
Victims of miscarriages of justice are having their injustice made worse by a new change of law, argues Dr Hannah Quirk. For all the talk of the much derided ‘compensation culture’ that has supposedly developed in this country, the reality is that most victims of miscarriages of justice are not entitled to any redress from […]
By Anna Carlsson-Hyslop Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
Flooding is not new in Britain, with major floods recorded throughout history. But with predictions of climate change suggesting such deluge conditions may become more common, Dr Anna Carlsson-Hyslop argues that policymakers must heed some important lessons from the history of flooding. History tells us that central government involvement in flood defence has swung first […]
By Ruth Lupton Filed Under: Featured Posted:
A year on from the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’, Prof Ruth Lupton argues that reducing the incomes of poor families and creating instability for poor children is a nonsensical policy for a government committed to closing the socio-economic attainment gap. One of the Coalition government’s most controversial welfare reform policies, the so-called ‘bedroom tax’, […]
