Ellwood: Britain faces most dangerous threats since Cold War as PM pursues strategic ambiguity on China March 17, 2021 The world has experienced a few revolutions since the last comprehensive review of our defence and security capabilities was published in 2015. These are certainly worrying times, tainted with a 1930’s feel to the challenges we face: rising authoritarianism, global recession, weak international institutions unable to hold errant states to account and an absence of [...]
Laws won’t make modern slavery any more illegal, investors must put their foot down for businesses to change March 17, 2021 The first laws passed in the UK to abolish the slave trade date back to 1833. The global treaty banning slavery came into force in 1927. We are fast approaching 100 years of human history in which the trade in people has been as illegal as it could possibly be. And yet in the UK, [...]
There are 19 FTSE 100 companies without any ethnic minority board members – is this really the best UK PLC can do? March 17, 2021 There are 19 FTSE 100 companies that still don’t have anyone from an ethnic minority on their board. This comes despite a target set by the government-backed Parker Review into corporate diversity of at least one person from an ethnic minority on every board by 2021. Yes it’s true that seven all-white boards have disappeared [...]
Calorie counting gimmicks and sugar taxes won’t solve obesity crisis March 17, 2021 In the early days of the pandemic obesity was identified as a key factor behind hospitalisation rates and deaths from Covid. The Prime Minister knew this personally, from his own brush with mortality last April. This is on top of the already well-established links between obesity and other life-threatening conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, [...]
Britain must define in its place in the world with rich trading relationships March 16, 2021 Today, the government will seek to define the UK’s place in the world as it publishes “Global Britain in a Competitive Age” reviewing foreign and defence policy. Back in 1962, the American statesman, Dean Acheson, famously observed that the UK had “lost an Empire but not yet found a role.” Now, after Britain has left the EU, the [...]
Protests are disruptive by design and extra police powers could threaten all our human rights March 16, 2021 The police crackdown on the Clapham Common vigil in memory of Sarah Everard this weekend was a stark reminder that we all need human rights to ensure that the police both protect our lives when we are threatened and respect our rights to protest when things go wrong. In recent years, human rights have been [...]
Joe Biden must not meddle in Northern Ireland March 16, 2021 Amid ongoing post-Brexit discussions, the Northern Ireland office has dispatched a representative to the US to “build relations” with the Biden administration. Tensions flared last week as Unionist paramilitaries withdrew their support for the Good Friday agreement. Meanwhile, key Republican actors set about launching a campaign in the US to build support for their cause, [...]
Boris Johnson’s plan to tackle obesity must be backed by behavioural science March 15, 2021 The last 12 months have revealed clear links between obesity and Covid-19. As the Government pledges £100m to tackle this next great health challenge, what will it take to reduce our national waistline for life – not just life after lockdown? This month, the Government unveiled a new incentives and rewards approach designed to tackle [...]
Air pollution is an invisible killer and a dangerous reality for Londoners March 15, 2021 While Covid-19 and Brexit have continued to dominate national headlines, there’s another another critical issue affecting the lives of every Londoner, which hasn’t been front and centre. Here in the City we’ve started three exciting schemes to help rid the capital of toxic air. In partnership with Camden Council, and funded by TfL through the [...]
B Corps: Can business really be kind? March 15, 2021 “Business as a force for good” is the commercial equivalent of “speaking your truth”. A lightning rod phrase that divides and says much about the relationship between business and society. This month is B Corps month, which has seen a host of companies seek to spotlight a different way for business. Less the binary profit and loss, [...]