Explainer: Rishi Sunak vs the climate lobby July 7, 2023 Rishi Sunak has a thorn in his side that won’t go away, unfortunately for all of us: the climate crisis. This week, his government faced legal action over its revised climate strategy from campaign groups including Friends of the Earth and Good Law Project. The campaign groups went to the High Court challenging the climate [...]
Explainer: Small house builders face existential hurdles July 6, 2023 As mortgages and rents rocket up, the housing industry hardly needed another blow. But small firms in the sector have warned they risk going bust without an intervention. In a letter to the prime minister this week, more than 200 small to medium-sized companies lamented that changes in the planning systems are blocking new developments [...]
Explainer: Rishi Sunak’s troubles with migration come left and right July 4, 2023 If immigration is really going to be one of the dividing lines at the next general election, then Rishi Sunak will have a hard time. The list of his migration troubles keeps getting longer, and this week has expanded to include around 20 of his own MPs trying to push for even more intransigent migration [...]
Explainer: Labour’s plans for education, from breakfast clubs to private schools July 3, 2023 This week is very much education and health week. We celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS on Wednesday, while teachers go on strike on the same day and on Friday too. Labour is focusing on education, with a big speech from Keir Starmer expected later this week on opportunities and access. This means Shadow [...]
Explainer: The Netherlands join the microchips war against China June 30, 2023 Today the Netherlands dealt a significant blow to China, restricting sales of machines used to make chips. From September, Dutch companies making machines that produce advanced processor chips will need an export licence to sell their products overseas. The Dutch government has been at pains to specify this policy is “country neutral”, but it’s clear [...]
Explainer: The Court of Appeal’s decision on the Rwanda scheme is a loss for Braverman June 29, 2023 Today, the Court of Appeal ruled the Home Office’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful. Ten asylum seekers, together with the charity Asylum Aid, had brought the case to the Court of Appeal after the High Court sided with the government at an earlier hearing. Today, they won. The appellants won on the [...]
RICS regulatory board quits en masse amid ongoing dispute with the government June 28, 2023 The building sector has been left in a state of confusion after all of the nine-member regulatory board of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suddenly resigned en masse late yesterday. The RICS Standards and Regulation Board is responsible for reviewing and investigating surveyors who aren’t following industry standards, and it has been one [...]
Explainer: Our misconceptions about housing are so ingrained that councils are blocking new flats for fears of floods in 80 years June 27, 2023 In the latest example of how far the tensions in housing can reach, North Devon Council just refused to approve new flats because they might be victims of flooding in 2105. Which is in more than eighty years. The flats wouldn’t even need to be built; we’re talking about empty floors above a former hairdresser’s [...]
Braverman needs to deal in reality and green light drugs testing at UK festivals June 27, 2023 The lack of on-site drug testing at festivals this summer could have harmful consequences. It's part of a broader problem: the Home Office's "war on drugs" rhetoric is unrealistic, writes Elena Siniscalco
Explainer: The weird hobbies of the mega rich June 23, 2023 The Titan submarine’s story kept the world gripped this week, until the tragic announcement of loss of life put an end to the rescue missions. The story is not over yet, with many questions still to be asked about how the submersible was made, how safe it was, and how a dangerous space like that [...]
