Speakers in this week’s Commons debate on the Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill did not pull their punches. The bill was described as “flawed”, “rushed…
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Politics + Society – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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Here’s a sentence you probably won’t hear again for a while: when I lived in the UK, I couldn’t get over how constructive and intelligent British politics was. Having come from Australia, where Question…
For the average soldier on the Western Front, very little happened on a day-to-day basis. Even when soldiers were at the front line, they watched and waited. Boredom was a major problem. But the prospect…
As expected, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has announced the closure of four prisons: Northallerton, Dorchester, Reading and Blundeston. He has also confirmed that the “Titan” prison in Wrexham…
The G20 begins today and whether this is the best or the worst of times depends on how important one considers Syria to be. Because the manoeuvring and diplomacy surrounding the increasingly vicious civil…
Malala Yousafzai is no ordinary young woman. She has addressed the United Nations, won international prizes and was subject of a short documentary on her life by the New York Times. This is in addition…
Hard Evidence is a series of articles that looks at some of the trickiest public policy questions we face. Academic experts delve into available research evidence to provide informed analysis you won’t…
Tensions in the Middle East rose considerably this morning when Russian radar detected the launch of two rockets in the eastern Mediterranean, triggering alerts across the region. After initially claiming…
Well, at last we have a referendum poll that is generating some excitement. Hitherto every poll has put the No side ahead, and indeed often (as in Sunday’s YouGov poll for Devo Plus) quite a long way ahead…
Drug mules have barely been out of the UK news this August. First the “Peru two”, Melissa Reid from Scotland and Michaela Connolly from Ireland, were arrested attempting to leave Lima with just under 12kgs…
The Times of Israel reacted strongly on Friday to the UK’s vote against joining America in punitive air strikes against Syria’s Assad regime: “Perfidious Albion hands murderous Assad a spectacular victory…
As a policy analyst, I am naturally interested in the dynamics of domestic politics, the role of specific actors, institutions and communities. So I understand why so much talk in Britain yesterday and…
One of the few bits of political memorabilia I own is a copy of the parliamentary proceedings – the Hansard – of Tuesday, March 18, 2003, signed for me by the then chief whip, Hilary Armstrong. That day…
According to the very great, very funny and utterly bloody-minded Austrian novelist Thomas Bernhard, in his book My Prizes: An Accounting (2011) - in which he heaps scorn upon the many literary prizes…
Stand by - on a screen near you - for the all-too familiar televisual firework display which means that the US and its allies are forging ahead with the threatened air strikes on Syria. As politicians…
As the drums beat louder for the possibility of Western military intervention in Syria, we have seen discussion of an intervention on moral, strategic and practical grounds. But so far none of the major…
A grief-stricken father tenderly hands over the shrouded body of his tiny daughter to be placed in the mass grave. Surgical masks are being worn in the hope that they will ward off the chemical death that…
Fifty years ago today, more than 250,000 people marched on Washington, 75% of them black. They heard Martin Luther King Jnr, give a speech that echoed around the world and echoes to us down through history…
The motive and timing of the alleged chemical attack last week in Damascus appear strange, but Western powers including the US, UK and France, backed by other regional players including Turkey now seem…
For news editors, this is a dream story - an outlying part of a democratic and moderate Muslim-majority country proposes something out of the dark ages. Under the plan put forward by the education board…
The theatrics of China’s trial of the year against former Mayor of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, are a smoke screen designed to hide the lack of progress the country has made towards the rule of law. When Bo is…
As UN inspectors finally began their search for evidence of chemical weapons being used in Syria, on Wednesday Damascus apparently suffered the worst attack of this kind yet in this conflict. Some reports…
Welcome to Hard Evidence, a series of articles that looks at what the data say about some of the trickiest public policy questions we face. Academic experts will delve into the available research evidence…
The release from prison today of Hosni Mubarak, the former strongman whose downfall in 2011 was hailed as the start of the Arab Spring in Egypt, could be the moment at which the counter-revolution has…
Bradley Manning, the whistleblower behind the biggest leak of military secrets in history, has been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. Convicted for six offences under the Espionage Act, he will have…