SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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‘Labour is Carefully Painting a More Pro-European Picture’
The party’s agenda of closer alignment and the bulldozing of barriers in an increasing range of areas could help Britain escape the Brexit trap, writes Shamik Das
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Income Inequalities in Britain’s Public Service Pay
Now the gap between the lowest and highest paid in the UK is one of the highest in the OECD, Iain Overton looks at the role of public sector pay in widening the disparities
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For the Love of Money: Michelle Mone – the Epitome of Modern Conservatism
The scandal-hit baroness was elevated for years by the party now backtracking over the PPE firm linked to her that won millions in pandemic contracts
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Angels and Demons: Nurses Need Support, Not Just Applause
NHS staff are professionals, not supernatural entities, says Nathan O’Hagan. They have the right to strike. But we also have the right to ask if our health services could be run more efficiently
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Why Putin has No Path to Victory in Ukraine this Year
Paul Niland looks at how even Russia’s minimal war aims in Ukraine are vague and impossible, eroded by the attrition of the Ukrainian armed forces and a failing mobilisation
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How the British Press Got Almost Everything Wrong In 2022
If you want to know what happens next in the UK, you’d be better off flipping a coin than listening to most political pundits, argues Adam Bienkov
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The White Knuckle Ride of 2022
From Partygate to Trussomics, the death of the Monarch, and the humiliation of Vladimir Putin, OttoEnglish’s review of the year takes us on a roller coaster of major fails and meteoric falls
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‘Who’s Virginia Woolf Afraid Of?’
Stephen Unwin explores how the famed author’s views about disability were typical of a growing intellectual endorsement of the dangerous ideology of eugenics in the early 20th century
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Clarkson, Misogyny and the Sun: ‘End the Farce of the Sham IPSO Press Regulator’
Complaining to the fake standards body is worse than a waste of time; it plays into the hands of a cynical and immoral industry, writes Brian Cathcart
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Macron, McKinsey, and the British State
The French President is facing allegations of corruption over his relationship with US consultancy firm McKinsey, which in turn is increasingly embedded in the British state
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‘Held Ransom by the ‘Blue-Eyed Babies’ of Sovereignty and Elective Dictatorship, What’s Our Escape?’
At the end of the year of three Conservative prime ministers leading a country in crisis, AC Grayling considers what the UK can do to free itself of the constitutional and political chaos it finds itself in
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Rwanda’s Human Rights Problem Makes it a Dangerous Destination for Migrants
Brian Latham reports on why human rights violations in Rwanda mean the Government’s deportation plans put vulnerable people at risk
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Fighting Back Against National-Populism
Jon Bloomfield and David Edgar consider what the progressive Left can do to counter dangerous hard-right thinking on the great social issues of our era
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‘Swamping’, ‘Cockroaches’, ‘Invasion’: How Language Shapes our View of Migration
Dan Clayton looks at a rising tide of martial, dehumanising and manipulative metaphors over asylum seekers and migrants in the UK
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Putin Fails to Create a Rift Between Europe and America over Aid to Ukraine
Mark Temnycky says that though Russia gambled to finance far-right politicians in Western elections this year, the attempt to stifle support for Ukraine has failed badly
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‘Big Agricultural Firms are Plunging the Food System into Crisis’
Influential agribusiness monopolists and food producers appear to be cynically using the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the pandemic to exert political influence, writes Thomas Perrett
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F*ck Business: The Year Johnson Boosterism Ended in Brexit Bust
Now the Conservative Party’s reputation for economic competence has cratered, Matthew Gwyther sees businesses getting increasingly politicised
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More Men are Killed in Households Each Year Than Women
With a post Pandemic rise in home-based male homicides, Iain Overton argues that confronting domestic abuse against women goes hand in hand with addressing male-on-male violence at home
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Four Lessons from Ukraine for the US Military
As Putin’s brutal invasion heads towards the end of its tenth month, former Marine Julian McBride argues the US and its allies need to face the new realities of conventional war
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What Keir Starmer Isn’t Telling Us About His Plan for a ‘Better Brexit’
The Labour leader is not being honest about the impact of Britain’s decision to leave the EU, writes Adam Bienkov
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‘Human Rights – Here at Home?’
Sanchita Hosali, CEO of the British Institute of Human Rights, explains why 158 civil society groups have written an open letter to Rishi Sunak, urging him to stand firm on the Human Rights Act
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‘An Idea as Old as Time’: How a Single Rail of Warm Clothes for Homeless People has Grown
Stefan Simanowitz explains how an old idea of neighbourly sharing has blossomed into a cold-weather initiative that has spread through grassroots support
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Cumbria Coal Mine: Climate Sacrificed Again Over Divisions in the Conservative Party
Approving Britain’s first coal mine in 30 years will reap negligible economic benefits and cause significant environmental damage – but the decision was taken for reasons closer to home for the Tories, writes Thomas Perrett
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Irony: The Velvet Glove of Colonialism?
Did the Greeks invent irony? Rahila Gupta makes the case for Britain’s mastery and ownership of the device
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Can Citizens’ Assemblies Improve Our Response to Crises?
Governments should use assemblies to tackle the issues at the heart of public debate during a crisis, write Stefan Flothmann and Brett Hennig
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Red Tory to Blue Labour – How Spiked and Unherd are Keeping National Populism Alive
Jon Bloomfield and David Edgar look at the reach and influence of an unlikely coalition of ex-Trotskyites, traditionalist Tories and communitarian Labourites
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Why We Are Not ‘Albanian Criminals’ Arriving On Your Shores
Albanian citizen Gresa Hasa explains why she wants an apology from the UK Government
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Are Recommendations for ‘Top Shares To Buy’ Worth the Paper They are Written On?
Iain Overton looks at how buying shares recommended in the mainstream press’s financial pages may not be the money-maker one would hope for
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University Strikes: An Inevitable Result of the Damaging Legacy of Marketisation
Thousands of academic staff have had to accept sub-standard working conditions and casualised contracts as politicians have attempted to alter the purpose of the education system, writes Thomas Perrett
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Xi-Think: The Imminent Dangers of Absolute Power in China
The fate of China and much of the world is now dependent on the whims of one man, says Chris Ogden
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The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee is Subsidising High Carbon Lifestyles
Thiemo Fetzer, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick, argues that the Government’s response to the energy crisis is wasting a unique opportunity
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‘Worse to Accuse than Abuse’?: The Parental Alienation Crisis in the Family Courts
Beatrix Campbell analyses the controversial theory that appears to be a backlash against women’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual abuse
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Brexit’s Global Trade is Fit for Georgian England: Devoid of Ethical Responsibility
Iain Overton reflects on the Government’s policy of Free Trade Deals with countries regardless of their human rights
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Ministers Should Face Legal Sanctions for Breaking Rules, say MPs
David Hencke reports on the Commons Committee which proposes wholesale reform of the ‘toothless’ regulators supposed to safeguard propriety in public office
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British Journalism and ‘Threats of Legally-Inflicted Oblivion’
As a major Anti-SLAPP conference closes in London, lawyer Alex Wade reflects on members of his profession who work on ‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation
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Islamophobia Awareness Month: ‘Where There is Hate, Freedom Dies’
With religious hate crimes on the rise, Afzal Khan and Benedict Rogers, a Muslim and a Christian, call on the Conservative Party to protect lives and religious freedom
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The Great Contraction: How the End of Cheap Money and Energy Will Degrade or Renew Civilisation
Nafeez Ahmed predicted the 2008 financial crash. But it was not resolved and has led to a more profound crisis which will require a major restructuring of the global economy to survive
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‘Stubborn Optimism Will Pave the Way to Climate Disaster’
We can’t seriously address the climate emergency until we admit that some of our hopes have died, writes Rupert Read
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What Now for Scottish Independence?
Barrister Gareth Roberts sets out the options available to Nicola Sturgeon following the UK Supreme Court’s decision that she cannot hold a second independence referendum without Westminster’s approval
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The Wheels Coming Off on the Chancellor’s ‘Tough Road Ahead’
Rachel Morris looks at the ideological underpinning and likely real-world effects of Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn statement and sees Britain heading down a road to nowhere
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‘The Supreme Court’s Scottish Referendum Ruling Shows the UK is a Prison of Nations’
The Union is not based on consent – European leaders must now make it clear Scotland will be welcomed as the only country to be taken out of the EU against its will, writes Anthony Barnett
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‘The Putin Regime: An Obituary’
Putin has already lost his war against Ukraine, on the ground, in the air, and on its airwaves. It’s just a matter of time before the consequences for him and his repellent regime become apparent
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‘Beware Absolute Monarchs Bearing Gifts’
Afsana Lachaux warns of the impact of Britain’s dependence on the £140bn invested by Gulf states, from the impact on London’s housing to a rising political influence
