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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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Where is the Government’s Anti-Corruption ‘Champion’?
Sam Bright explores the role of John Penrose MP, and his unwillingness to call out systemic corruption in the UK
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11 Players Who Have Made a Difference Off the Football Field
As Marcus Rashford is honoured with an MBE for his work campaigning to end food poverty for children, Nathan O’Hagan selects his team of football heroes, past and present, who have influenced the world of politics
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COP26: Soaring Rhetoric But Few Commitments
Mike Buckley considers what needs to be done to turn the positive rhetoric of the first week at COP26 into agreement and action
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The Normalisation of Hate Against Pakistanis
Faisal Hanif inspects the racism directed at former Yorkshire cricket player Azeem Rafiq, and what this tells us about the treatment of Pakistanis in the UK
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The Johnson Scandal is Far Sleazier than ‘Cash for Questions’
David Hencke, who broke the story of MPs tabling parliamentary questions on behalf of private interests in 1994, reflects on why Boris Johnson’s actions are a threat of a different kind to Britain’s political system
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How Political Corruption Works in the UK
Sam Bright explores the ways in which party donors and corporate interests are warping British democracy
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Western Powers Are Empowering Hindu Nationalist Threats to Democracy
A lack of understanding of the Hindutva movement in the West is empowering the persecution of Muslim and Sikh minorities in India and South Asia
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Boris Johnson and Climate Denial: Can A Leopard Really Change Its Spots?
As the first week of COP26 draws to a close, Adam Bienkov details how the Prime Minister’s record of climate change denial shows he is not serious about defusing the “doomsday device” of uncontrolled global warming
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The Today Programme and the War on the National Trust: An Episode in Shameful Journalism
A discussion about wokeness, colonialism and the National Trust on the BBC’s flagship radio show came across like a public school reunion dinner, says Brian Cathcart
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Delegitimise and Overturn: The Paterson Affair is the Latest in a Worrying Pattern of Johnson’s Contempt for Democratic Accountability
The Government’s U-turn is reassuring but should be viewed within the wider context of consistent attempts to dodge scrutiny by Boris Johnson’s administration, says Adam Bienkov
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Natural Injustice: The Collapse in Parliamentary Standards
Former House of Commons clerk Eliot Wilson looks at what the Owen Paterson affair means for probity in public life
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Government’s Proposed Data Reforms Would Hinder the Honest and Empower the Dishonest
Phil Booth unpicks the Government’s planned post-Brexit data reforms
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Meta Access: The Media and Mr Zuckerberg
With his probing eye for conflicts of interest in the British press, Mic Wright turns his scrutiny to tech journalists and their coverage of Facebook
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Hot Air: Why Johnson’s COP Looks Likely to Flop
Mike Buckley inspects the Prime Mike Buckley checks the Prime Minister’s appetite, and his resolve, for climate reform
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COP 26: Climate Justice for the 46 Least Developed Countries
Kaossara Sani calls on the wealthy nations of the world to fufil their promise to compensate the main victims of ecocide by lifting the growing debt burden and providing climate finance and technical support
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Even as the World Burns, Johnson has to Play his Anti-Immigrant Fiddle
The Prime Minister activated his base in the one way he really knows how, when he claimed that the fall of the Roman Empire has great lessons for today’s climate emergency, says Hardeep Matharu
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Lost At Sea: Untethered Britain in the Age of Emotion
As international leaders gather in Glasgow for the COP26 summit, Hadley Coull and Chris Ogden consider Britain’s unmoored identity in a volatile world
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Playing With History Is Playing With Fire
The Coronavirus pandemic should have been the wake-up call to ‘Never-Gonna-Happenism’ and the lure of empty populism, says Otto English
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Defunding Frontline Healthcare Services During a Pandemic: an Unrecoverable Moral Debt
Daniel Goyal observes that unlike other nations, the UK’s healthcare capacity remains 4% lower than pre-COVID level, and this means more unnecessary deaths
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The Meta Narrative: How Zuckerberg Just Won’t Listen
The Facebook boss’ response to damning revelations about the social media platform has been to go full Orwellian, says Kyle Taylor
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The Indian Government is Fuelling Anti-Hindu Violence in Bangladesh
Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist administration appears to be deliberately exacerbating tensions among Hindu communities by implementing policies that ‘other’ Muslims, writes CJ Werleman
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COP OUT? Why Johnson and Sharma are Ill-Prepared for Vital Climate Summit
The Prime Minister has been getting his excuses in early about why the COP26 climate change conference may not lead to progress, says Mike Buckley
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Climate Protests have Sparked a Debate About the Role of Individual Consumers While Tackling Structural Problems
Jack McGovan explores the personal responsibility of the top 10% of global consumers and the impact they can make on halting the effects of climate change
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Insulate Britain: Be Impossible, Demand the Realistic
Charlie Waterhouse, a member of Extinction Rebellion’s media team, sets out why he believes the actions of Insulate Britain should be praised not demonised
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Empty Shelves and Driver Shortages are Important – But So are the Disabled People Left Without Carers
The effect on the lives of disabled people of care workers reluctant to come from abroad, and a shortfall of those joining the profession in the UK, is being unsurprisingly ignored, says Penny Pepper
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We Can’t Trust the Prevent Review to be Honest About Counter-Terrorism Failings
It looks likely that the Government’s review of the controversial strategy will significantly strengthen the programme as a means of hitting back against its many critics, argues Dr Richard McNeil-Willson
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The Pandemic: A Toxic Mix of Political and Public Health Crises
The handling of the Coronavirus crisis by Boris Johnson’s Government is an egregious example of structural failings at the heart of the British state, argue Professor Gurch Randhawa and Mike Buckley
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Why Did Labour Lose the Military?
In 1945, the armed forces vote helped sweep Labour to power – but in modern politics the military vote is more likely to go to the right
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A Winter of Discontent? Maybe. A Frozen Government for Sure
Peter Jukes looks at the differences between the crises of the 1970s and the current state of Brexit Britain – and finds some surprising but chilling echoes
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Saccharine Narratives about Adoption are a Disservice to Children and Parents
This National Adoption Week, Andrew Taylor-Dawson – an adoptive parent himself – asks for a more nuanced approach to how Government and society thinks about adoption and its challenges
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Under the Radar: How the Hindutva Lobbying Campaign Has Extended to the US
CJ Werleman explores the growing influence of radical Hindu nationalists in American politics
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To Match His Climate Rhetoric, Boris Johnson Must Axe These Five Projects
Claire Hamlett unpicks the Government schemes that are obstructing the UK’s net zero ambitions
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Trojan Horse Legislation: Turning the NHS into a $28bn Profit Opportunity
The 99% Organisation reveals how ministers could use the Health & Care Bill to transform the NHS into something like the US healthcare system
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Journalism is Not a Profession: It Has to be Unruly to Challenge the Rulers
As Chinese journalists are sent for professional re-education, Matthew Gwyther argues that regulation and conformity threaten the unlicensed essence of holding power to account
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How the UN is Held Hostage by Power and Money
Jonathan Fenton-Harvey explores the forces manipulating and undermining the objectives of the United Nations
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‘Us and Them’ Politics Puts Us All in Danger
The more we are wound up through a divisive politics of polarisation, the less safe we all ultimately are, says Hardeep Matharu
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The Persecution of Steven Donziger Threatens All Environmentalists
The case of the environmental lawyer demonstrates the continuing force of the fossil fuel industry – in tandem with political interests and private courts, says Thomas Perrett
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From Mask Wearing to the Run on Petrol: The Consequences of Crowds
Crowd behaviour helped public health initiatives in the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic, but social proofing also means that people are easily influenced to reject safety measures, writes Clara Hickman
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Brexit Forever: The Northern Ireland Protocol and the Government’s Brexit Addiction
David Frost’s speech on the Northern Ireland Protocol, and Dominic Cummings’ shocking revelations on Twitter, showed that the UK is playing the same old games over Brexit, says Mike Buckley
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In a War Between the US and China Over Taiwan, Who Wins?
CJ Werleman assesses the capability and will of both superpowers as tensions continue to escalate over the island territory
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Johnson, Starmer and the Tectonic Plates of British Politics
Professor Chris Painter explores the strategic electoral dilemmas which Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer respectively face, as normal political engagement resumes
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Facebook’s Big Lie is Finally Being Exposed
Kyle Taylor puts the social media platform’s recent scandals into context and argues that the House of Zuckerberg is slowly crumbling
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The Attacks on Chris Packham are Part of a Global Assault on Environmental Activists
Whether a UK TV presenter or an environmental campaigner in the Amazon, those fighting the climate crisis and to protect biodiversity are increasingly under attack
