Explainer-in-brief: Life after No10, from lobbying to the speaking tour July 11, 2022 Boris Johnson might have been forced to make his exit from No10 – but it looks like he has no intention of making an exit from politics. There are suggestions he will stay on as an MP. Theresa May, the predecessor whom he helped take down, has also remained an MP. On the side, however, [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Behind the scenes of a Tory leadership race July 8, 2022 The Conservative party elections take place when a leader resigns or loses a vote of no confidence. They work in two stages: in the first one, two main contenders are put forward; in the second one, party members vote and decide who’s going to be the new leader. The rules – including how an MP [...]
In memoriam: Gove started to crack open a housing crisis paralysed by indecision July 8, 2022 Amid the utter chaos of the last 72 hours – from the torrent of ministerial resignations to Boris Johnson’s own painful almost-exit – there was someone who was ushered out of Cabinet – Michael Gove. A long-time frenemy of the prime minister, Gove had been appointed Secretary of State for Housing – soon after renamed [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Why the 1922 committee’s decisions matter July 7, 2022 The 1922 committee, the parliamentary group of Conservative backbenchers, will hold elections next Monday. Among those who are considering running there’s Steve Baker, Andrew Bridgen, Aaron Bell and others who have been critical of the prime minister in the past. All Tory backbenchers will be able to vote for the eighteen places on the executive. [...]
Explainer-in-brief: World leaders, ranked by emission output July 6, 2022 In a world where we strive to live more sustainably, you’d expect world leaders to lead the way. Unfortunately, it seems like they can’t give up their private jets. And those tend to produce quite a bit of Co2 emissions. According to data from Pack & Send, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came in first [...]
Explainer-in-brief: the state of play of NHS backlogs July 5, 2022 Backlogs affecting every aspect of care – from GP appointments to hospital treatment – plague the NHS. Around 6.4 million patients are waiting to start hospital treatment in England. In other words, ten per cent of the population are in line for treatment. According to the latest figures by NHS England, there are 2.48 million [...]
Waitlists, ambulance delays, a looming GP strike? It must be the NHS’ birthday July 5, 2022 So, happy birthday, NHS. It’s not every day a national health service turns 74, is it? And what a way to celebrate, after making it through the pandemic, doctors and nurses are threatening to strike, backlogs are getting worse and worse, and people are hopping in their cars to get to A&E because an ambulance [...]
Explainer-in-brief: What is the legal basis for a new Scottish ballot? July 4, 2022 Nicola Sturgeon has chosen the date for a second referendum on independence: 9 October 2023. The question will have the exact same phrasing that was used in 2014 – when 45 per cent voted for independence and 55 per cent voted against it: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The question of independence came up [...]
Opinion-in-brief: An outdated vision of motherhood plagues our Parliament July 1, 2022 Babies will be banned from the House of Commons after several MPs complained they are “distracting”. The debate started after Labour MP Stella Creasy brought in her then three months old son Pip during debates. “Mothers in the mother of all parliaments are not to be seen or heard it seems”, commented Creasy after the [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Sajid Javid’s digital-first push for the NHS June 30, 2022 Yesterday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid unveiled more details of his plan to drive digital transformation across the NHS. Speaking at Policy Exchange, he said that “we must modernise and adapt or we will fall behind”. His strategy focuses on three areas: the NHS app, digital provision across the board and new technologies. A lot of [...]
