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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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‘Reckless to the Point of Madness’: How the Murdoch Empire Hacked British Politics
Journalist Nick Davies talks to Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber in Prospect magazine’s ‘Media Confidential’ podcast about the new revelations from the settlement by News Group Newspapers
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We Need to Move Beyond ‘As Long as it Takes’ in Ukraine’s War Against Putin
After two years of stoic resistance against Russian forces, Ukrainians feel they are being abandoned and false narratives of failure are damaging their campaign
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‘Populists Learn From Each Other’: Is the World Heading for a Tipping Point in 2024?
The prospect of another Trump presidency in the US, rising authoritarianism and multiple complex conflicts around the world make for a depressing picture
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‘To Conclude Political Parties Do Not Fulfil a Public Function is Fantastical’
Nicholas Reed Langen explores the dismissal in the courts of Tortoise’s claim that political parties are not purely private organisations
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A Message to White Environmentalists: Demanding a Fossil Fuel Phase Out is Not Enough
The poverty blindness of too many climate activists overlooks the huge complexities facing the world’s poorest
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Avoidable Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities: The Statistics that Shame Our Civilised Society
A new report reviewed the deaths of 3,648 people with a learning disability – almost half died an avoidable death
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‘Nearly All Leading Voices in Learning Disability Advocacy Are White – This Must Change’
When the narrative is dominated by people who look different and don’t share ethnic minority experiences, the system will continue to fail, writes Ramandeep Kaur
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‘The BBC’s Claim About COP28 Secret Oil Deals Is Deeply Flawed’
The job of journalism is not to reinforce a pre-existing bias, writes Nafeez Ahmed
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‘The BBC’s Evisceration of Newsnight is a Craven Admission of Defeat’
Former BBC producer and reporter Patrick Howse explores why the cuts announced to the corporation’s flagship news programme are another damning, but unsurprising, blow to its reputation
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‘Why We Must Stand Up Against Those Fanning the Flames of Hate’
Labour MP Naz Shah received a wave of hatred and abuse after resigning as one of Keir Starmer’s Shadow Ministers over the issue of a ceasefire in Palestine
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A Crime to Promote Ideas that Offend Conservative Ministers? The Government’s Changing Definition of Extremism
The proposed change to the definition of extremism risks tipping society into a dystopian political space, argues Adeeb Ayton
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It’s Hard to See How ‘Prison Works’
Overcrowding, rising prison deaths, financial cutbacks, and no deliverable plan – the prison system in England and Wales is close to chaos
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‘The Lack of Transparency about COVID Science Will have Cost Lives During the Pandemic’
The public – and scientists – were not able to scrutinise the Government’s interpretation of the scientific evidence with which it was being supplied, argues Independent SAGE member Kit Yates
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Could Isaac Levido Return the Conservatives to Power Again Against All the Odds?
With the Conservatives’ general election strategy in the hands of the ‘Wizard of Oz’, it’s likely to be one of the most vicious campaigns the UK has ever seen. Tom Scott reports
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‘The Price of Democracy in the UK has Just Gone Up Massively: The Conservatives Once Again Set the Rules to Benefit Themselves’
Increasing the amount political parties can spend on general elections is another warning sign for British democracy
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Revealed: Britain’s Broken Election Laws Just Got Even Worse
The Government has made it even easier for dark money, foreign influence, and the proceeds of crime to bankroll British politics
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‘The Brexit Effect on Health and Social Care Must Be Pragmatically Addressed’
We need to forge alliances to continue our global health leadership, writes the director of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations
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‘When Misconduct Means Nothing: Kristina O’Connor and the Met Police’
Gross misconduct still leads to minimal consequences – leaving officers who abuse with their rank and pension intact, writes Jamie Klingler
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Democracy Experts Sound Alarm on Corruption Risk as Local Council Audits Collapse
With only a fraction of local government audits now completed on time and a significant decline in their quality, a fundamental pillar of devolution is under threat, leaving communities in the dark on their council finances, experts warn
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‘Israel’s Actions in Gaza Will Come Back to Haunt It’
Israel’s concept of itself as a peaceful and democratic nation risks being irrevocably damaged by such excessive violence, writes former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘Lies, Damned Lies and Strategic Lies’
Ivor Gaber examines the technique of repeating untruths for a particular gain and how to counter it
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‘Rishi Sunak Won’t Abandon Braverman’s Rwanda “Dream” – But It Won’t Slow the Boats’
There is no way of stopping people from trying to escape the awful conditions of their lives through the Rwanda scheme – another, sensible, solution is required, writes Brian Latham
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Reshuffling an Empty Deck: A Government Totally Lost and Out of Ideas
The Prime Minister’s glaring political deficiencies have been highlighted in a disastrous week for the Conservatives
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‘Stability and Strong Government? Not with this Merry-Go-Round’
If the UK’s First Past the Post electoral system can’t deliver its supposed advantages, why we are continuing with it?
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‘Adult Social Care is Broken and Heading for a Bigger Crash – and the Government has Repeatedly Made It Worse’
NHS consultant David Oliver argues that the Government since 2010 is to blame for the worsening social care crisis
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‘I was Assaulted by the Far Right for Protesting Peacefully – and this Government was Complicit’
Maddy Fry was assaulted on the march last weekend demanding a cease fire in Gaza. She is not going to forget how the authorities let her down
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Workers Face the Sack if They Don’t Cross Their Own Picket Lines. What Kind of Country is This?
Strike-breaking is now mandatory.
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The Republican Presidential Debate – Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
Alexandra Hall Hall provides her insights on a frightening two hours of Haley, Christie, de Santis, Scott and Ramaswamy
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The Overton Window: Homelessness
The Home Secretary believes homeless people live in tents on the streets of this country as a ‘lifestyle choice’. She needs to take a closer, compassionate look…
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Why Ukraine Won’t Negotiate with the ‘F**king Terrorist Putin’
With its history of treaty violation and oppression of occupied Ukrainians, Zelensky would be foolish to trust the Kremlin. And is winning a strategic war over Crimea
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‘Nadine Dorries Using Rape Allegations She Sat On as a Way to Sell Books? Unforgivable’
How long did the former Culture Secretary know about allegations about a Tory MP? Jamie Klingler shares the views of the man’s alleged victims.
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‘Sunak’s Government is Using a Moment of Crisis to Clamp Down on Dissent. We Can’t Let it Stand’
The Conservatives’ rhetoric and actions against the right to protest concern us all, writes Liberty’s interim director Akiko Hart.
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Why the Sentencing Proposals in the King’s Speech May Put More People in Danger of Becoming the Victim of a Crime
Lawyer Gareth Roberts examines new proposals that may be robust, but are they good policy?
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The Covid Inquiry Demonstrates How Scientific Independence Matters
Dr Kit Yates examines the lessons emerging from the Covid Inquiry and why fear of pressure from politicians led to the creation of Independent SAGE
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‘If Johnson was Blaming “Bed-Blocking” for COVID Lockdowns, he was Blaming his Own Party’
NHS doctor David Oliver explores how the Conservatives’ NHS policies left it in a dire state and unable to cope with the pandemic
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‘Suella Braverman’s “Hate March” Rhetoric is Another Desperate Attempt to Hold onto State Power’
The crafting of ‘ceasefire’ marches as a transgression of Remembrance Sunday looks like a throwback to a top-down colonial mindset, argues Suriyah Bi
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‘The Anti-Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions Bill is Another Way to Silence Pro-Palestinian Voices’
A bill to restrict public bodies from making ethical financial decisions based on the conduct of foreign states makes no distinction between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
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The Hypocrisy of the AI Summit: The UK is Doing Nothing About Political Misinformation
The Government rejected a cross party Lords recommendation that political advertising should be regulated according to factual accuracy. The former chair of the Select Committee wonders why
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‘Despite the Headlines and Handshakes, We Are No More Prepared for the Tidal Wave of AI’
Tackling the issue will require global cooperation and legislative policies – but advancing from non-binding commitments can take decades, writes Emma DeSouza
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Rail Union Condemns ‘30 Years of Waste’ as England Marks Three Decades of Privatisation
Renationalising the railways remains highly popular amid transport delays, cancellations, expensive fares and strikes.
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The Empathy Gap and a Politics of Extremes
Empathy – to be of any meaning – needs to be bolstered by a willingness to accept one’s failures, writes Iain Overton
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Don’t Let the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Become Yet Another Front in the West’s Internal Culture Wars
What we are witnessing in the UK and the US is a weaponizing of the situation in Israel and Gaza to justify pre-existing right-wing or left-wing goals
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Halloween at the Coronavirus Hearing: ‘Boris Johnson’s Contempt for the Old and At-Risk’
David Oliver gives a physician’s view of the Covid-19 Inquiry evidence and what it reveals about the Conservative Government
