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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: ‘Following the Science?’ – Boris Johnson and his Government Should Look in the Mirror
The Secret Scientist starts her new insider series for Byline Times by reminding us that there is not just ‘one science’, and its validity rests on constant probing and peer review.
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The Government is Giving Away Your Money to the Mail and the Sun
The stench of corruption could hardly be stronger, says Brian Cathcart, on the bung Boris Johnson’s Government is giving to his employers in the British press.
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When the Political Becomes Personal: A Domestic Row Over COVID-19
Christina Patterson on how the contradictory and unreliable health advice from the UK Government over the Coronavirus crisis is causing tensions at home.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: It Took a Global Pandemic to Expose the Stock Market as a “Mirage”
Despite Donald Trump making it central to his presidency, the success of the stock market bears no connection to the lives of nearly 90% of American citizens.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Prime Minister Is Not Immune from Scrutiny – Despite what his Cheerleaders Say
With calls being voiced for journalists not to criticise the Government over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, Otto English explores why this has never been more essential.
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A Note to the Gay Community in the Global North on Islamophobia
Shahmir Sanni argues that too many selectively use homophobia to justify prejudice against Muslims, who are themselves a unique focus of global hatred.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Public May Not Be Happy with the Government’s Media Critics – But We Must Not Stop Scrutinising
Editor of Scram News, Sam Bright, explains why the notion that critical journalists are the problem in this crisis has to be swiftly rejected.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: ‘We’ve Followed the Science’ – The Ultimate Revenge on the Experts We’ve ‘Had Enough Of’?
Hardeep Matharu explores how those at the heart of Government have quickly switched from deriding experts to loving them – and why this volteface may not be so benign.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Who is the Government Trying to Fool – Us or Itself?
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, explores how the Government has communicated with the public during the COVID-19 outbreak and why the true scale of the crisis is being hidden.
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Could COVID-19 Bring with it a New Inclusive Englishness?
Former MP John Denham considers the return of the nation state, British myths and how the Coronavirus crisis could help forge a new national story for England.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: When Did the NHS Become a Charity?
To celebrate the first week of Yorkshire Bylines, a regional news site developed by YesWeWork using the Byline Times news template, Richard Sadler celebrates the formidable Captain Moore.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: A Wake-Up Call for Climate Change or an Accelerator?
The COVID-19 pandemic has briefly cut global emissions, but could countries around the world simply return to business as usual in their attempts to repair the economic, political and social consequences of the virus once it has eased?
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Germany’s Approach to COVID-19 Shows that Evidence Works – Will it Be Enough to See Off the Far-Right?
Musa Okwonga considers why it cannot be assumed that the German Government’s good handling of the Coronavirus pandemic will be remembered by the public once the outbreak eases.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: ‘Putting Your Hands Up and Admitting When You Have Got It Wrong is the Only Way to Get It Right’
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, provides his take on where the web of deceit being spun at the very heart of Government is going to lead us all.
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In Asking for Public Subsidies the Press Should Live by the Rules they Apply to Harry and Meghan
Brian Cathcart explains why the press asking for public money to help them through the Coronavirus pandemic must follow the same reasoning they applied to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Two Deadly Viruses Are Wreaking Havoc in the US – COVID-19 and MAGA-20
CJ Werleman on the ‘liberation’ protests being held in some American states demanding an end to social distancing measures to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Will Our COVID-19 Lockdown Make Us think More About Why We Imprison So Many People?
Duncan Campbell discusses how the words ‘lockdown’ and ‘stir-crazy” were an all too familiar reality for a section of our society long before the Coronavirus pandemic appeared.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Take Back Control
Molly Scott Cato argues that the public-school approach of fighting COVID-19 like a wartime enemy results in needless casualties and no exit strategy.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: We Must Commit Now to a Public Inquiry to Uncover the Truth on COVID-19
Brian Cathcart explains why political parties should back calls in a letter published today in the Financial Times to commit right now to holding a public inquiry into the UK’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: India is Using COVID-19 to Advance its Hindu Settler Colonial Enterprise in Kashmir
With the world’s attention on the Coronavirus pandemic, India’s Government is introducing more draconian measures to advance its nationalist aims.
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Labour Must Build a New Coalition Under Keir Starmer to Win Again
Mike Buckley gives his take on what the Labour Party now needs to think about in terms of identity, class and the Coronavirus crisis.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The UK Was Not in a Healthy State Before this Pandemic Descended
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, gives his take on how the next decisions can be made on the UK’s lockdown, the lack of press scrutiny and why the Government’s ‘goal’ of keeping deaths to 20,000 may be affecting their reporting
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The Coronavirus Crisis: COVID-19 Exposes the US as a Third-World Country
CJ Werleman explains how the Coronavirus has starkly exposed all of the US’ structural social problems and made them worse.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Italian Emergency is in Danger of Normalising the Abnormal
As part of a La Stampa-Byline Times collaboration, Jacopo Iacoboni explores what Italy’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic exposes about the state of its politics
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PANDEMONICS: The False Choice Between National Wealth and National Health
Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King’s College London, explains why we don’t need to turn a health crisis into an economic depression.
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Did Experts Fail to “Speak Truth to Power” Over ‘Targeted Herd Immunity’?
Hardeep Matharu speaks to a NHS consultant about how the politics of inevitability infected the UK Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Coronavirus: We Must Resist this Exercise in Hypernormalisation
Hardeep Matharu warns against becoming numb to the constructed reality being created by politicians as the UK gets to grips with the immense human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Germany – Another Country Whose Approach puts the UK to Shame
James Melville contrasts and compares Britain to the fast testing and community outreach approach of its European neighbours.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Does COVID-19 Prove Women Are Best Suited to Lead in a Crisis?
New Zealand and Germany have been commended for their approaches to tackling the Coronavirus pandemic – does the fact that both are led by females hold the key to their success?
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Exploiting a Pandemic: Billionaire Press Owners Want Your Tax Money
Brian Cathcart argues that, while journalism is in crisis because of COVID-19, subsidies to untrustworthy newspaper proprietors are not the answer.
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Democracy in the UK – How Worried Should We Be?
Mike Buckley observes how authoritarian takeovers are often led by elected incumbents and finds worrying signs in Boris Johnson’s populist approach.
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Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet: Talking About a New Generation
Former Labour MP Ian Lucas explains how the party’s fresh frontbench team is not Ed Miliband revisited.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Hit it Hard. Hit it Early. New Zealand‘s Response to COVID-19 Puts the UK Government to Shame
James Melville on the fast response of Jacinda Ardern’s Administration which puts the UK Government to Shame
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Disinformation Rings True As Our Pandemic of Untruth Continues
Musa Okwonga explores why conspiracy theories are finding such an audience and what this exposes about the worrying state of our democracy and the social contract.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: We Must Confront Grave Matters No Matter How Uncomfortable They Are
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, explains why it is wise to give thought during the COVID-19 pandemic to those life and death concerns we never usually want to confront.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Idyllic Indonesian Island of Bali is a COVID-19 Catastrophe Waiting to Happen
CJ Werleman considers the impact of the Coronavirus on tourism and how this may be one crisis too many for Bali to recover from.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: A “Distraction” of the Government’s Own Making – Why ‘Herd Immunity’ Won’t Go Away
A concept first discussed publicly by the Government itself, the Health Secretary is trying to put the genie back in the bottle – something which must not be allowed when people’s lives are the cost.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Statistics are Patients with the Tears Wiped Off
Dr John Ashton, a former director of public health, considers the fateful legacy of the Atlético Madrid-Liverpool football match and the Cheltenham races.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Christian Right Becomes A Suicide Cult
CJ Werleman explains why President Donald Trump’s support from the Christian Right is proving deadly in the US’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: The Government Must Go Much Further to Protect Workers and Business
Mike Buckley considers the disadvantages of the Government schemes announced to support the employed and self-employed and whether a universal basic income might be the way forward.
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Why Fortress Europe and the European Union Can’t Coexist
Joey Ayoub explores a big dilemma facing the EU, involving a desire to dissolve borders within while promoting them without.
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The Coronavirus Crisis: Is the US Using COVID-19 to Topple Venezuela’s Leader?
Steve Shaw reports on the US Government’s announcement of charges against President Nicolas Maduro for drug trafficking and questions the timing of such a move during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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Editorial: The Nation’s Immune System and the Cost of Lies
On Byline Times’ first anniversary, a big thank you to all our readers and subscribers for your support.
