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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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‘Starmer’s Refusal to Confront the Press Isn’t Just a Mistake – It’s Irresponsible’
If the Labour Leader does not embrace media reform now, he never will – and the entire country will be far worse off as a result, writes Brian Cathcart
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Sexual Assault in the Metaverse
As the first police investigation into the gang-rape of a girl’s VR avatar is launched, Patsy Stevenson asks what is being done to protect women and girls in the virtual world.
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Russia’s Goals in Ukraine: Debunking the ‘Special Military Operation’
Almost two years after its full-scale invasion, Paul Niland examines what Russia claims is the purpose of waging war on Ukraine
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Camila Batmanghelidjh was Loudly Vilified – and then Silently Vindicated
Dr Mine Conkbayir reflects on her time working with the founder of Kids Company and the fight for justice that continues after the campaigner’s death
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‘Keir Starmer is Using Right-Wing Methods in Service of a Few Tamer Left-wing Hopes’
Labour needs to make bold moves if it is to achieve a victory worth having, argues AC Grayling
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‘Culture Thrives On Dialogue and Difference’: Seasons Greetings From Byline Times
An end of year reflection from Peter Jukes, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Byline Times
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‘A Disunited Kingdom? For Younger Minorities, Britishness is an Identity We Can Work With – A Quest for Englishness Must Confront This’
Developing a stronger sense of Englishness cannot merely be looked at through a political lens – our identities are personal and multiple, conflicting and shifting, writes Hardeep Matharu
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‘A Disunited Kingdom? Britain is Built on Forgetting Our Imperial History’
Maintaining the illusory story of what Britain was is integral to the illusion of what Britain is – and the maintenance of political and economic hegemony, writes MP Clive Lewis
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‘A Disunited Kingdom? Reclaiming an Englishness Hijacked by the Right’
At the heart of our political crisis is how England, in particular, has struggled to find its way in the modern world, writes MP Caroline Lucas
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‘A Disunited Kingdom? It Is Time to Tell an Inclusive English Story’
Anthony Barnett explores why a recent conference in Edinburgh aimed to initiate a conversation about an ‘England’ distinct from ‘Britain’
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‘Stopping Male Violence Must Focus on Men: Why the Government’s New Spiking Measures Continue to Fail Women’
Despite more than 6,700 reports of spiking in England and Wales, the Government’s new initiatives fall short of meaningful action, writes Reclaim These Streets co-founder Jamie Klingler
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‘Those Who Enjoyed the Post-1945 Social Progress of the West Were Made Complacent By It: We Forgot Its Price is Vigilance’
AC Grayling explores the factors that have driven the rise of ‘illiberal democracy’
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Is the Media Helping Richard Tice Sanitise Far-Right Responses to Immigration?
Adam Barnett wonders why the Reform Party and its leader are treated as mainstream when they’re not
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‘Rewilding is the Key to Upgrading Our National Parks’
Ollie Newham, of the Rewilding Britain charity, argues that a more focused approach is vital to delivering nature’s recovery in the UK’s national parks
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Plurality and the Press: The Telegraph Takeover
The role of broadcasting and communications regulator Ofcom in scrutinising the proposed newspaper deal has not received the scrutiny it deserves, writes Julian Petley
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Piers Morgan’s Statement on the Prince Harry Phone Hacking Case – Annotated
Dr Evan Harris, former Director of Hacked Off and now a legal analyst to the successful claimants against Mirror Group Newspapers over phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering, deconstructs former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan’s statement on the damning judgement against the firm last week.
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Threats, Denials, and Disinformation: Why Michelle Mone’s ‘Apology’ Over PPE Medpro Lies Doesn’t Cut It
Her representatives threatened to sue us for reporting the facts. Now the truth is finally out
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‘Get Brexit Done’ is now ‘Stop the Boats’: Is the Rwanda Bill the Conservatives’ Trojan Horse?
We again have some members of the Conservative Party arguing that the UK needs to abandon another European institution, writes former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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The Politics of Disability: A Forgotten Minister for Forgotten People
The real danger is that disability is regarded as a niche issue which only affects a small group who can easily be ignored, writes Stephen Unwin
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The Failure of COP28 to Agree a ‘Phase-out’ of Fossil Fuels and its Disproportionate Impact on the Global South
The difference between ‘transitioning away’ and ‘phasing-out’ fossil fuels is significant, writes Stuart Spray
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‘We’re Crossing a Global Tipping Point on Fossil Fuels and There’s No Going Back’
Nafeez Ahmed argues that, despite mixed feelings about the COP28 agreement, it marks a real step forward
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‘Netanyahu’s Pre-Occupation with Political Survival Exposed Israel to October 7 Attack’
Two months on from the horrors of ‘Black Saturday’, the question of why a country normally so sensitive to risk was caught off guard has an answer that undermines the future prospects of Israel’s prime minister.
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‘Keeping Carbon in the Ground’ Missed the Point: How COP28 Signals End of Oil
Western hypocrisy nearly scuppered global climate negotiations. But now the direction of travel is clear. Byline Times’ columnist sums up his conclusions after addressing the Dubai summit
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‘Selling Weapons to Israel Could Make UK Complicit in War Crimes’
Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch argues that allies of Israel and backers of Palestinian armed groups should suspend arms sales while war crimes are being committed
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‘In Fighting for the Cause of Refugees and Migrants, We Fight For Ourselves’
AC Grayling reflects on what immigration really means, how right-wing politicians are twisting that meaning to exploit xenophobia, and what can be done to counteract their rhetoric
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What Boris Johnson’s Testimony at the Covid Inquiry Reveals About his Inability to Engage with Scientific Evidence
Kit Yates argues that the former Prime Minister’s lack of scientific training was not the real problem
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Time to Welcome Ukraine into NATO
In the midst of war, Ukraine has made exceptional progress on meeting the requirements for joining the alliance argues Mark Temnycky
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‘Are the Conservatives Willing to Sacrifice Northern Ireland for the Rwanda Scheme?’
What the Government seems to have overlooked is that the European Convention on Human Rights isn’t merely referenced in the Good Friday Agreement – it’s threaded throughout it, writes Emma deSouza
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‘The Time for Human Rights is Now’
Human rights are about our relationship with those who wield public power, writes the CEO of the British Institute of Human Rights
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‘Reckless to the Point of Madness’: How the Murdoch Empire Hacked British Politics
Journalist Nick Davies talks to Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber in Prospect magazine’s ‘Media Confidential’ podcast about the new revelations from the settlement by News Group Newspapers
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We Need to Move Beyond ‘As Long as it Takes’ in Ukraine’s War Against Putin
After two years of stoic resistance against Russian forces, Ukrainians feel they are being abandoned and false narratives of failure are damaging their campaign
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‘Populists Learn From Each Other’: Is the World Heading for a Tipping Point in 2024?
The prospect of another Trump presidency in the US, rising authoritarianism and multiple complex conflicts around the world make for a depressing picture
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‘To Conclude Political Parties Do Not Fulfil a Public Function is Fantastical’
Nicholas Reed Langen explores the dismissal in the courts of Tortoise’s claim that political parties are not purely private organisations
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A Message to White Environmentalists: Demanding a Fossil Fuel Phase Out is Not Enough
The poverty blindness of too many climate activists overlooks the huge complexities facing the world’s poorest
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Avoidable Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities: The Statistics that Shame Our Civilised Society
A new report reviewed the deaths of 3,648 people with a learning disability – almost half died an avoidable death
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‘Nearly All Leading Voices in Learning Disability Advocacy Are White – This Must Change’
When the narrative is dominated by people who look different and don’t share ethnic minority experiences, the system will continue to fail, writes Ramandeep Kaur
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‘The BBC’s Claim About COP28 Secret Oil Deals Is Deeply Flawed’
The job of journalism is not to reinforce a pre-existing bias, writes Nafeez Ahmed
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‘The BBC’s Evisceration of Newsnight is a Craven Admission of Defeat’
Former BBC producer and reporter Patrick Howse explores why the cuts announced to the corporation’s flagship news programme are another damning, but unsurprising, blow to its reputation
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‘Why We Must Stand Up Against Those Fanning the Flames of Hate’
Labour MP Naz Shah received a wave of hatred and abuse after resigning as one of Keir Starmer’s Shadow Ministers over the issue of a ceasefire in Palestine
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A Crime to Promote Ideas that Offend Conservative Ministers? The Government’s Changing Definition of Extremism
The proposed change to the definition of extremism risks tipping society into a dystopian political space, argues Adeeb Ayton
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It’s Hard to See How ‘Prison Works’
Overcrowding, rising prison deaths, financial cutbacks, and no deliverable plan – the prison system in England and Wales is close to chaos
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‘The Lack of Transparency about COVID Science Will have Cost Lives During the Pandemic’
The public – and scientists – were not able to scrutinise the Government’s interpretation of the scientific evidence with which it was being supplied, argues Independent SAGE member Kit Yates
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Could Isaac Levido Return the Conservatives to Power Again Against All the Odds?
With the Conservatives’ general election strategy in the hands of the ‘Wizard of Oz’, it’s likely to be one of the most vicious campaigns the UK has ever seen. Tom Scott reports
