SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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The Government’s ‘Jet Zero’ Plan Won’t Reduce Airline Emissions
Thomas Perrett unpicks the proposal to achieve ‘net zero aviation’ by 2050 – and the gap it falls into between rhetoric and reality
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Salman Rushdie: the Offence Defence is Not Enough
Rushdie has consistently argued that people should not be harmed for the words they write. But, as Graham Williamson points out, this is not the same thing as believing words are harmless.
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Beware the Charter Cities Conspiracy Theory
Chris Grey explores the various claims around Freeports and Charter Cities – and whether they are an extreme manifestation of a libertarian Brexit
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Why Rwanda’s Refusal to Let Me Report on its Treatment of Refugees Should be a Warning Call to the UK
Twelve refugees were killed by Rwandan police in 2018 and the country is attempting to shield itself from scrutiny – this should concern us all, writes Iain Overton
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Russia’s War Addiction
Kyiv-based Paul Niland explores the recurring feature of Vladimir Putin’s 22-year rule
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Pluralism versus Populism – The Battle Rages On
In his editorial from the August 2022 print edition of Byline Times, Peter Jukes explores the big new political battle shaping the world
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The Identity Trap: Race, Representation and the Rise of Conservative Diversity
Rishi Sunak is in the running to be Britain’s first prime minister of colour – but the debate around whether this will be a good thing for ethnic minorities has laid bare conflicting ideas about the ‘individual’ and the ‘collective’, writes Hardeep Matharu
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In the Hands of Sunak and Truss, Freeports are a Threat to Democracy
Richard Murphy argues that freeports may benefit businesses through reduced taxes and regulation, but not employees or the economy of the local area
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Kenya Elections: Have Social Media Companies Learnt from Past Mistakes?
Harvey Pitt looks at the role social media has played in Kenya’s 2022 election and finds that the social media giants are failing to learn from the errors of the past
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The ‘Culture War’ Continues to Radicalise on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Sam Bright and Sian Norris track the evolution of pro-Trump, pro-Brexit ideologies in the UK and US
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Why Wages Should Keep up with Inflation: The Economic Case for Getting a Pay Rise
Economics professors Muhammad Ali Nasir and David Spencer explain why wage hikes do not herald economic disaster
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Turning the Chapter on the Johnson Years: My Wish List for our Next Prime Minister
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall explores how the UK could start rebuilding public trust in its institutions and our democracy following a turbulent few years
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Truss and Sunak’s Hard-Right Economic Plans Will Only Deepen Cost of Living Crisis
With the UK heading for recession, the two remaining candidates to become Britain’s next Prime Minister are committed to the same failed economic theories that created the current crisis, writes Thomas Perrett
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There Can Be No Concessions or Negotiations with Vladimir Putin
Kyiv-based Paul Niland explores why recent calls for Ukraine to come to a ‘peaceful compromise’ with Russia – despite its unprovoked invasion of the country continuing – cannot be adhered to
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Werleman’s Worldview: Nancy Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan will have Little Bearing on China’s Longstanding Imperialist Dreams
China has long determined to use whatever means necessary to attain total dominance over the Western Pacific, writes CJ Werleman
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Why Boycotting Turkey should be a Feminist Demand
The feminist movement must show sisterhood with the Rojava Women’s Revolution against Turkish repression, argues Rahila Gupta
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Undiplomatic Dispatches: An Exclusive New Column by Alexandra Hall Hall for Byline Times
Byline Times is thrilled to announce a new column by former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall only in its monthly print edition. Here she explains what readers can expect
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Warning Signs for Climate Action: The Environmental Records of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss
Neither of the candidates in the running to become the next Prime Minister can back up their rhetoric with actions on the climate emergency
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Is Johnson’s Plan for the House of Lords the Greatest Attack on British Democracy?
Britain’s parliamentary democracy cannot allow one-party dominance in the way the Prime Minister intends for the upper chamber, says barrister Gareth Roberts
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A Lack of Oversight in the Tory Leadership Contest Damages Democracy
Rachel Morris responds to our recent reports on how people living abroad can pay to vote in the Conservative leadership contest, and install the next Prime Minister
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Johnson’s Visit to the Lebedevs: A Dire State Not A ‘Deep State’
There is no such thing as ‘private business’ when you’re Foreign Secretary, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Do the Right Thing’: Trump Under Criminal Investigation
After months of public outcry, reports confirm Donald Trump is being investigated by the US Department of Justice for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, reports Heidi Siegmund Cuda
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Content Creating Over Policy Making: The Next Instagram Prime Minister
Sascha Lavin explores how branding beats ideas in the Tory leadership election
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Truss’ Plans for EU Laws Follow a Pattern of Attacks on Women’s Economic Security
12 years of austerity, a lack of investment in care, and the rising cost of living have harmed women’s economic security – now Truss’ Brexit plans risk continuing that trend, argues Sian Norris
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A Bridge to Nowhere: Thatcherism Trumps Levelling Up
Despite the warm words of Truss and Sunak, Boris Johnson’s flagship policy is set for the scrapheap, contends Sam Bright
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Cruel Britannia and the ‘Global Britain’ Fallacy
The rhetoric and the reality of post-Brexit Britain are more distant than ever, notes Rachel Morris
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High Water Mark? 2012 Was No Utopian Wonderland
10 years after the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, Sian Norris reflects on its position in our cultural imagination
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Julian Assange’s Extradition: An Open Letter
Iain Overton writes to Jane Hartley, US Ambassador to the UK, after Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to America
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Culture Can Help in the Fight Against Putin – We Must Not Limit It
Katie Dancey-Downs, assistant editor at Index on Censorship, reflects on a decision by the Ukrainian Parliament to ban music created by Russian citizens
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How Should We Respond to the Conservative Party’s Authoritarian Turn?
David Lowther speaks to experts in national identity and authoritarianism, to shed light on how progressive forces should react to the debasement of democracy under this Government
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Cruise Ships and Rwanda Red Meat: the Conservative Leadership Contest
Brad Blitz laments the ‘migrant-bashing’ slogans of contenders Truss and Sunak which do nothing to address the increasing numbers of refugees seeking asylum in the UK
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The ‘Far-Righting’ of the Conservative Party
Martin Shaw considers how the Conservatives have incorporated radical right-wing politics since the onset of the great Brexit debate
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From Stagflation to Stagffluence: the Hollowing Out of the Rentier Economy
As the cost of living crisis mounts, Rowland Atkinson and Andrew Baker look at the stagnation of wages and the rising polarisation between renters and owners of assets
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Fist Bumping Dictators: A Fish Rots from the Head Down
CJ Werleman fears a return to cynical transactional politics in the US Democratic Party, as a leading Indian American congressman appears to move closer to Narendra Modi’s divisive Hindu nationalism
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The Diversity Mirage and the Next Prime Minister
To truly achieve the political representation of disadvantaged and overlooked groups, a more nuanced and inclusive debate is needed, says Shafi Musaddique
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Why Haven’t the Tory Leadership Candidates Been Held to Account Over Islamophobia?
Basit Mahmood calls out the active suppression of the Conservative Islamophobia scandal
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Boris Johnson is Leaving Downing Street and Bringing All of Us Down with Him
The Prime Minister’s disgraceful long exit from Government is damaging both his own party and the country, reports Adam Bienkov
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Why Dirty Dossiers Matter
The fact that Conservative leadership candidates are gathering and sharing dirt on each other has serious implications for national security and democracy, say Sam Bright, Sian Norris and Iain Overton
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Conservative Cost of Living Inertia
The absence of credible solutions to the economic crisis is one of the most galling features of the Tory leadership contest, says James Meadway
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The Perils of a Renewed Age of Austerity
Sascha Lavin explores why tax-cuts promised by the Conservative leadership hopefuls are even more dangerous after 12 years of austerity
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Boris Johnson’s Most Lasting Brexit Legacy may well be the Break-Up of the UK
Boris Johnson has done more for the independence movement in Scotland and the possibility of reunification for Ireland than either the SNP or Sinn Féin managed in a generation, says Jonathan Lis
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Werleman’s Worldview: Donald Trump has Left American Democracy in Limbo
The decision to prosecute the former President, or to absolve his crimes, will shape US politics for generations, says CJ Werleman
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Feminist Bodies or Feminist Minds in the Conservative Leadership Contest
Sian Norris asks whether the symbolic representation of a female-dominated leadership race will translate to substantive representation of women’s concerns
