SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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Dominic Raab’s ‘Operation Red Meat’ Justice Plans Will Backfire
Increasing the powers of magistrates will only put more pressure on the already strained crown court, says Gareth Roberts
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Will Conservative Chaos Halt the Green Agenda?
With focus on the climate emergency once again fading from headlines, Tom Burke assesses the achievements of the COP26 summit and how prioritising green policies could be a casualty of the Prime Minister’s current political turmoil
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A New Era of Austerity Beckons
For the past 12 years, the Conservative Party’s response to high public spending has always been the same: impose the burden on lower income families, says Maheen Behrana
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The Media-Political Complex Consumes Another Prime Minister
The incestuous relationship between politicians and the press now frames the very nature of British democracy, says Mic Wright
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The Online Arms Race Benefits the Conservatives at the Expense of Democracy
Former Labour MP Ian Lucas explores how politics is being warped by online surveillance, data harvesting and ruthless social media campaigning – and why opposition parties need to take action to tackle this
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A Johnson Regicide: Another Great Political Escape?
Professor Chris Painter evaluates the prospects of the Conservative Party should Boris Johnson’s latest crisis of leadership prove terminal
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The Metropolitan Police is Complicit in Downing Street Law-Breaking
The Met has outsourced the decision on whether to investigate a crime into the hands of the institution accused of committing it, says Adam Bienkov
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BBC Airtime Must Not be Squandered on Liars and Cranks
Former BBC reporter Patrick Howse explains why comments this week by the corporation’s head of editorial policy to a House of Lords committee are so concerning when it comes to the BBC’s mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’
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The Programme Remains the Same: Beware the Post-Johnson Conservative ‘Reboot’
It’s not who leads the Conservative Party that we should worry about – it’s the Conservative Party itself, says Brian Cathcart
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Boris Johnson was Created by the Media Now Destroying Him
Prime Minister was swept into power, with little consideration for his suitability for the job, by the same forces now deserting him, reports Adam Bienkov
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Covering Their Tracks: The Flaws in the Downing Street Parties Inquiry
Sam Bright considers the potential conclusions of Sue Gray’s investigation into the Number 10 lockdown breaches
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‘Another Country – Not the One I Represented as a Diplomat for 30 Years’
Alexandra Hall Hall, who resigned from the Foreign Office over Brexit lies, now thinks the British malaise is much deeper than that or Boris Johnson
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The Growing Regional Wealth Gap and Why it Matters
Sam Bright evaluates new data showing a growing divide between richer and poorer parts of the country
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The Colston Four: It is the Attorney General Who Seeks to Set a ‘Dangerous Precedent’
The four defendants were found not guilty of criminal damage for removing the statue of the slave trader in Bristol – the rule of law in Britain will be significantly eroded, says Gareth Roberts
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Why I’m Happy Answering to Subscribers Rather than Newspaper Tycoons
After 30 years working for rich, often tax avoiding press barons, Peter Oborne celebrates funding his ‘Boris Johnson Lies’ website through contributions from the public
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Politics For All and the Changing Face of News Media
Sam Bright investigates the suspension of the controversial Twitter account and speaks to insiders about the evolution of the platform. With additional reporting by Katherine Denkinson
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The Sham of Press Self-Regulation Shattered – by the Self-Regulator
IPSO has backed down from investigating the systemic journalistic failures at the Jewish Chronicle, revealing it was never fit for purpose – says Brian Cathcart
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Will the World Stand Up and Recognise that Taiwan Does Not Belong to China?
CJ Werleman assesses the likelihood of President Xi Jinping launching a Chinese invasion of the island state based on a widely unchallenged falsehood of territorial claim
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NHS Privatisation Represents the Pillaging of Our National Inheritance
The infiltration of private sector providers into state services amounts to the robbery of resources that belong to us all, says Rachel Morris
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Plans to Strip Citizenship Without Notice Must Kickstart A Popular Movement Against the ‘Hostile Environment’
Building opposition to the Government’s controversial Nationality and Borders Bill must go beyond a focus on its clause on citizenship deprivation, says Liam Shrivastava
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Tipping the Scales of Freedom: 2021 – The Year of Living Dangerously
Richard Haviland documents the multiple and manifest threats to rights of citizenship, free assembly and democratic accountability from a Government reliant on propaganda and disinformation
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From Conrad’s Kurtz to Enoch Powell: Conservatism Takes a Dark Turn to the Past
Under Boris Johnson’s leadership, the Conservative Party has reversed half a century of attempts at post-imperial reform and is now embarked on a campaign of ‘othering’ – targeting enemies within and without
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Decarbonising Transport: Why the UK Needs Change On All Fronts
In order to achieve net zero, the country needs to reimagine how people move around its cities, observe Jon Bloomfield and Patrick Willcocks
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NHS Hospitals Are Not ‘Scaremongering’ About a Winter Coronavirus Wave
David Oliver makes a plea on behalf of his colleagues as they face a surge of admissions due to the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 this Christmas
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Coming in from the Cold: the Brexit Reset Needed After the Resignation of Lord Frost
Mike Buckley explains why he has helped to set up a new Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations
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The Populist Alliance: How Vote Leave Came to Rule British Politics
Even despite the resignation of Lord David Frost, the hard Brexit project has been enshrined into Britain’s political institutions with far-reaching consequences, says former Labour MP Ian Lucas
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A Dangerous Paradox: Tory MPs and their Media Allies Attack Chris Whitty for Simply Doing his Job
The Chief Medical Officer’s role is to offer his expert opinion on the evolving pandemic – and yet he is under attack for doing just that, says David Oliver
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Thirty Years On From the End of the Cold War, the UK Must Support Post-Soviet Success
Sir Ciarán Devane, former chief executive officer of the British Council, explains why Britain must not abandon the states that achieved independence from the Soviet bloc
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Will the Liberal Democrats Lurch Towards Libertarianism?
The North Shropshire by-election result has ended nearly 200 years of Conservative domination in the once safe Tory seat – but it now raises the question of what the Liberal Democrats stand for, says Gareth Roberts
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The Prime Minister of Mendacious Melodies
The scandal of the Downing Street Christmas parties last year flies in the face of the essence of the Christmas message, says Reverend Joe Haward
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North Shropshire Shows Britain is Turning Against the Conservatives’ Populist Politics
Having portrayed itself as helping voters overthrow a hated established order, Boris Johnson’s Government has now become the epitome of everything those same voters dislike, says Adam Bienkov
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How the Financial Sector Bankrolls Climate Chaos
The UK financial sector remains a significant contributor to the escalation of the climate crisis, reports Thomas Perrett
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Scientist Behind Wuhan ‘Lab Leak’ Theory Secured Funding from Pentagon’s Science Division
Nafeez Ahmed looks at the scientific credentials of the authors behind a book that has powered baseless speculation that the Chinese Government ‘engineered’ COVID-19
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MPs Raise the Alarm Over Johnson’s Draconian Elections Bill
A parliamentary committee has found that the Government’s proposals lack transparency and consultation, and fail to provide evidence as to why the changes are “necessary and proportionate”
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Conservative MPs Radicalised by COVID are Coming for Johnson
COVID-19 almost killed Boris Johnson and now it is killing his leadership of the Conservative Party, says Adam Bienkov
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The Party’s Over and the Joke’s On Us: Johnson and the Integrity Deficit
The scandal of the Downing Street Christmas parties has exposed something important about the Prime Minister and his appeal, says Jonathan Lis
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The Nationality and Borders Bill is a Legacy of Empire
We need to start calling British immigration policy and law for what it is: a form of post-colonial, racialised nation-building, says Dr Maria Norris
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Islamophobia in America’s Democratic Party
CJ Werleman explores how a campaign to challenge the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco was roiled by contesting claims of misogyny and anti-Muslim bigotry
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Tragic Tots and Cynical Tears: Tabloid Hypocrisy over Child Murder
Mic Wright reveals how infanticide is exploited by the press, while they demonise social workers and do nothing to prevent it
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The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain
Explores how the drive to get ‘Hinduphobia’ recognised as a form of religious persecution has spread from India to the West
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Liars Policing the Truth: How Johnson Has Exploited the System
Ed Brown explains how vague protocols and informal codes of conduct have been ruthlessly manipulated by the Prime Minister
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Grenfell to Downing Street: The Government’s Impunity and Disdain Has Existed for Years
Adrian Goldberg reports on another half-hearted apology from the Government – this time in relation to the Grenfell fire tragedy
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Downing Street Christmas Parties: Journalists, the Public and an Ethical Void
We don’t know yet whether journalists were among last year’s revellers at Number 10, but if they were — they betrayed the public they are supposed to serve, says Brian Cathcart
