Politics

In the one hundred years that women have taken seats as MPs in the House of Commons, vast progress has been made for women’s rights both within and outside of Parliament. At the beginning of 1919, no women MPs sat in the Commons, despite legislation being passed in the previous year enabling women to serve…

In light of news that former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has secured the MPs’ vote to become the UK’s next prime minister, Giles Coghlan, Chief Market Analyst, HYCM, said “The past three weeks have been nothing short of chaos in Westminster. With Rishi Sunak named as the UK’s third prime minister in three months, the question…

It was a snowy day in Andover, Massachusetts, when as a young woman in my twenties who had never known anything but elderly men as the national leaders of the US or the UK, I watched on television as John F Kennedy made his inaugural address to the nation and the world. He spoke to…

Following the Queen’s speech this morning, please find below commentary from leading industry experts, discussing what the announcements mean for their respective areas of expertise (each under the appropriate heading). Household Finances (Cost of Living Crisis) Richard Eagling, Senior Personal Finance Expert at NerdWallet, said: “The Queen’s Speech is far from a Budget, but no…

The new Employment Bill, which would help standardise and enforce better rights for UK workers, was first proposed by the Conservatives in their 2019 election manifesto. One of the key benefits of the bill, which was expounded by the government as the UK reeled from Brexit, was to make flexible working a default, a key…

The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados has just decided to remove the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth ll, as its head of state and appoint as an independent republic its own president. A friendly ceremony recently marked the transfer and the queen sent a message of good wishes. There is nothing very remarkable about that; it…

On 26 May 2021, Mr Mark Lowcock, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs briefed the UN Security Council on Syria.  He made four important points:  water shortages; the economic crisis; protection for civilians; and access for humanitarian aid. Water is the most fundamental issue for drinking and irrigation, but also for electricity and food supply.  The…

I was born and brought up in London and I now live in the Highlands of Scotland. Like most people on these islands, I am a mongrel with a family history drawn from all parts of the British Isles – mongrels are good survivors! I have lived, worked, and studied in England and Scotland. I…

There are just over two months till Britain has its remaining ties with the European Union severed. As the world enters 2021, the UK will leave the post-Brexit implementation period and, unless a new treaty is signed before then, will be treated by the EU like every other non-member nation. It has been hard to…

No truly global “world order” has ever existed. What passes for order in our time was devised in Western Europe nearly four centuries ago, at a peace conference in the German region of Westphalia, conducted without the involvement or even the awareness of most other continents or civilizations. A century of sectarian conflict and political…

Clement Attlee bestrides the twentieth-century history of the Labour Party. Its greatest constructive achievements are his government’s achievements. The British welfare state, including the National Health Service, the nationaliz-ations, independence for India, and the Atlanticism of his government’s foreign policy were all central pillars of British politics for many years after his government left office.…

Amal Clooney was a prominent international human rights lawyer long before she acquired a famous name from her husband, Hollywood actor George Clooney, she discusses the plight of her client Mohamed Nasheed, the former president, Democratically elected, of the Maldives, islands in the Indian Ocean, he has since been granted asylum in the UK. The…

It is at a time of enormous domestic & international geopolitical flux that I reflect on how the UK might become fit for purpose in the 21st Century.   One has to be careful distinguishing between what is hoped for & what is likely to happen. For example, wouldn’t it be marvellous if the Korean…

Central banks were often established in the past with the aim of bringing stability in the aftermath of historic episodes. The Bank of England was established during the sovereign debt crisis of 1690, when the government was unable to obtain funding in the market. The Federal Reserve was created after a series of panics that…

So, does it matter that one of our top Ambassador’s has to resign because of a leaked confidential assessment of Donald Trump and the current US government? Yes – it most certainly does, and it is enormously damaging and not just because President Trump doesn’t take kindly to criticism. It matters because Ambassadors are expected,…

I have been increasingly concerned over the use of referendums in the United Kingdom. I do not like referendums. I think Britain functions much better under Edmund Burke’s representative democracy model, where MPs and Governments can be thrown out if the electorate so wish. By and large, referendums do more harm than good. There are,…

Perhaps an apology is needed for inflicting upon the public yet another book on Brexit. Someone has remarked that everything possible about Brexit has already been said, but it has not yet been said by everybody! But my recently published book, Beyond Brexit, is not about the whys and wherefores of Brexit. It seeks instead…

Despite having served over forty years as a member of the House of Commons I am discovering on appointment to the House of Lords how much I have to learn about how the Upper House works. In a typical week at Westminster there is rarely any pressing need for MPs to familiarise themselves with proceedings…

By Baroness Greengross, For many years I have been heavily engaged in the lifetime learning debate, but the impact of longevity and technology on employment, particularly of older people, means that we must make a renewed effort to shine some light on this neglected issue. Increasing longevity is a global phenomenon that, rather than being…

Free Speech? In 1791, the Congress of the United States ratified ten amendments to the US constitution. These amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, stand today as a clear definition of the foundations of a free society. In the long history of the slow development of human rights, from Magna Carta in 1215, through…

By Lord Watson of Richmond, Winston Churchill wrote his history of the First World War between 1923 and 1931. After the first volume appeared in 1923 Nancy Astor commented caustically that Winston had written a great volume about himself and characterised it as the history of the World’s worst crisis. She was, of course, unfair.