Analysis
— Is a “good” politician one who is good at making dirty deals and engages in sleazy behaviour only in their personal life, or is unethical behaviour in personal life likely to translate into bad ethical character in public life?
Analysis
Our analyses thoroughly examine current events and complex issues, providing nuanced insights into politics, health, economics, and social trends. Supported by evidence-based perspectives from experts, these articles go beyond the headlines to explore underlying causes and impacts, fostering informed discussions on the forces shaping our world.
Monkeypox
— How monkeypox spreads and how to protect yourself.
Analysis
— Both Churchill and Johnson had a complicated relationship with the Conservative Party. The only way they compare?
Long-Read
— The 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics promised to have a major impact on school sports. Ten years on, many primary school PE lessons have been outsourced to private sports contractors, resulting in the ‘deskilling’ of a generation of teachers.
Analysis
— Boris Johnson is not the first world leader to prioritise his own ambitions over meaningful governance. But his fall is a good moment for reflection on how far a democracy is prepared to tolerate, and even reward Machiavellian tendencies.
Conservative Leadership Contest
— As Conservative party members choose between the former chancellor and the foreign secretary, the real question for them now isn’t who would be the better leader but who could win against Labour?
UK Politics
— What exactly was “Johnsonism” beyond a few slogans such as “levelling up” and the scandals that attracted the attention? Behind Boris Johnson’s buffoonish exterior, the quick wit and wearisome repartee, lay very little.
Fact-Check
— Fact-check: The ministers’ revolt against Boris Johnson wasn’t anti-democratic – it’s representative democracy in action. As for his claim to have a mandate from the people, it is misguided.
The Uber Files
— Uber has managed to change some of its practices, but it is still butting heads with regulators and governments to push existing rules closer to its preferences, fighting regulations as its survival strategy.
Analysis
— The scandal that brought his downfall wasn’t Boris Johnson’s first. Witty and charming to some, but dishonest and untrustworthy to others, he leaves his country and party very divided, as well as the legacy of his scandals.
COVID-19
— The way societies are governed seems to have influenced how they’ve fared in terms of excess deaths during the pandemic. For pandemic preparedness, the public must be able to trust authorities and institutions.
Conservative Leadership Contest
— Conservative MPs vote in the first round and members in the second.
Refugees
— A heartening 70% of British voters want to allow Ukrainians into the UK but only 50% feel the same way about Afghans. And the difference is even starker among those who vote Conservative.
Analysis
— Boris Johnson breaks from his party in a bitter resignation speech in which there is no sense of taking responsibility and no sense of apology.
Analysis
— There was a sense of self-aggrandisement about the resignation letters sent by Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak that led to Boris Johnson eventually resigning. Overall, there is so much material in all the letters sent to the PM that we could analyse them for years to come.
UK Politics
— The prime minister’s personal popularity has plummeted but the people who decide how to replace him still can’t agree on a successor.
