Explainer-in-brief: The rail strike coming to a station near you June 16, 2022 The biggest rail strike in thirty years will be hitting the UK next week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It will involve thirteen operators on the national network, including South Eastern and Western Railways, Northern and Greater Anglia. There will be trains still working, but they will start running later and finish earlier, from 7:30 [...]
Explainer-in-brief: the new Brexit wars over Northern Ireland June 15, 2022 On Monday, the government introduced a bill that allows it to change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade rules on the island of Ireland. On Tuesday, the EU started devising retaliatory legal action. Here come the new Brexit battles, with a potential trade war in sight. Amongst the areas of contention [...]
As we remember Grenfell, we must find a way to give the survivors of the blaze closure June 14, 2022 Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire. 72 people died in that inferno – 18 of them were children. The number of people living in the council-owned building was 297; the 223 survivors are still, today, waiting for justice. The tragedy that unfolded on the night of the 14th of June 2017 [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The story behind the Tiverton and Honiton by-election June 13, 2022 Last Friday, the prime minister paid a visit to the rural Devon constituency of Tiverton and Honiton. Since the seat was created in 1997, it has always been in Conservatives’ hands. Local residents will head to the polls on June 23 to choose their new MP, since Neil Parish had to resign after admitting to [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Right-to-Buy is a headline-grabbing policy for the few June 10, 2022 “We will back the British people for as long as it takes”, said Boris Johnson yesterday in a speech to try and restore some confidence in his government. The prime minister plans to do that first through housing reforms – a mortgage review, and the reintroduction of the Right to Buy. With the latter, tenants [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A look into a Health Week overshadowed by political chaos June 9, 2022 You might have not noticed amidst all the chaos, but this is “health week”. Yesterday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid pledged to implement cultural change within the NHS. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting pointed out that currently NHS managers can’t even do their job with patients’ care because they’re too busy managing collapsing hospitals and trying [...]
The UK must lead a united front ready to tame the alarming global food crisis June 9, 2022 On Monday, the Russian ambassador walked out of a UN meeting after Charles Michel, the European Council president, accused Moscow of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries”. Michel was referring to the situation in Ukraine’s port of Odessa, where tons of wheat have been left to rot in containers because of [...]
Opinion-in-brief: The calm after the storm is only an illusion for Boris June 8, 2022 On Monday, Boris Johnson won a no confidence vote – but lost the support of two in five of his MPs. While his supporters painted it as a conclusive victory, arguing that it’s now time to move on, the idea that “a win by one vote is enough” is very far from reality. There are [...]
Explainer-in-brief: In Ukraine, the fighting moves to a longer-range war June 7, 2022 We’re at day 104 of the war in Ukraine. After a break lasting weeks, Russia hit Kyiv again on Sunday. The day after, the UK confirmed it was sending more weapons. It will provide the longer-range rockets that President Zelensky – who was visiting the Donbas region yesterday – has been repeatedly calling for. The [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The cost of another bank holiday June 6, 2022 So you’ve woken up at the end of another long bank holiday, and thought right, when’s the next one? There have been several campaigns for new bank holidays – even a permanent one in honour of the Queen, or one to mark the sacrifices made during the pandemic – a Thank Holiday, as some charities called [...]
