Starmer says migrants should speak English – but all of the UK’s languages are important for integration: William Perugini/Shutterstock When Keir Starmer said: “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English”, it laid bare an assumption – that English is the only language that counts in the UK. This view not …
How gas keeps the UK’s electricity bills so high – despite lots of cheap wind power: The UK has become a world leader in offshore wind power. iweta0077 / shutterstock Gas and electricity bills will rise again for millions of UK households on April 1, when the latest energy price cap takes effect. A typical …
Most businesses won’t pay more national insurance. But the UK’s small employers still need support: Stock-Asso/Shutterstock There are nearly 5.5 million businesses in the UK. It may come as a surprise, however, to learn that most of these (about 4.1 million) are not employers. They might be, for example, the sole traders we call to …
Freedom for Chagos islands: UK’s deal with Mauritius will be a win for all: Britain is close to resolving its territorial dispute with Mauritius over the Chagos Archipelago, located in the central Indian Ocean. For years, Mauritius has claimed the island group as part of its sovereign territory. It says that Britain unlawfully detached the …
Mr Bates vs The Post Office depicts one of the UK’s worst miscarriages of justice: here’s why so many victims didn’t speak out: The new ITV drama about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal is an incredibly important vehicle for getting the story of what is increasingly recognised as one of the greatest miscarriages of …
We calculated the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions from people breathing out – here’s what we found: Jaromir Chalabala / shutterstock The UK population collectively breathes out about 1,100 tonnes of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide every year. That’s one key finding from our new research. Those breath emissions are a mere 0.05% and …
UK’s failed asylum deportation plan puts Rwanda’s human rights and refugee struggles in the spotlight: The UK Supreme Court ruled on 15 November 2023 that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. The plan would have seen tens of thousands of asylum seekers sent from the UK to Rwanda, which would then process and host …
UK’s new back to work plan will make life even harder for disabled people: The UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has unveiled new rules for welfare benefit claimants. Under the government’s back to work plan, £2.5 billion of funding is to be allocated to employment support schemes with the aim of getting over 1 million people …
Tax cuts rumoured but the UK’s autumn statement will offer little economic comfort: Bk87/Shutterstock The UK chancellor’s autumn statement is likely to be relatively uneventful – yet extremely significant. Although some headline-seeking tax cuts are rumoured, sluggish economic growth and persistent inflation leave little scope for major policy announcements. That said, the fiscal update is …
Twenty years after section 28 repeal, lessons still need to be learned from UK’s homophobic law: November 18 2023 marks the 20 year anniversary of the repeal of section 28 in England and Wales. This law silenced any discussion of lesbian and gay matters in schools, and was law for 15 years between 1988 and …
Sunak’s climate shift is out of touch with the demands of the UK’s workforce – here’s why: UK workers have a high degree of concern about the climate crisis. MNBB Studio/Shutterstock Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to introduce a bill aimed at granting new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea. The proposal …
Royal Charter storm of 1859: how an almighty tempest led to the birth of the UK’s shipping forecast: The Royal Charter was shipwrecked at Porth Alerth near Moelfre on Anglesey. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland You can read this article in Welsh. In British weather history, one storm stands out as a catalyst …
Memory in action: what the UK’s official COVID commemoration should look like: Whether an actual bereavement or a loss of experience, everyone has lost something to COVID. From early on in the pandemic, grassroots memorials sought to acknowledge this collective experience, including the national COVID memorial wall in London and the annual national day of …
What the decision to curtail HS2 and embrace cars means for the UK’s cities: If you consider the decision by the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to cancel phase two of the high-speed rail project, HS2 in the context of the government’s growing pro-car stance, the potential ramifications for the country are profound. Steve Tuckwell’s …
Rosebank shows the UK’s offshore oil regulator no longer serves the public good: Igor Hotinsky / Shutterstock In a four-line statement announcing the approval of the new Rosebank oil field 80 miles west of Shetland, the UK’s offshore oil and gas regulator showed its mission no longer serves the public good. The announcement by the …
Offshore wind: a perfect storm of inflation and policy uncertainty risks derailing the UK’s main hope for a low-carbon future: pauljrobinson/Shutterstock In what many have deemed a disaster, the UK government’s latest auction for renewable power – an annual attempt to incentivise private sector investment in a range of power sources – has failed to …
Five jellyfish species you may encounter more often in UK’s warming seas: While scuba diving off the south-west coast of England this summer, I was lucky to encounter several different species of jellyfish in just a matter of weeks. Many of these, including the compass jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella), are already common to UK waters. But …
Why delaying the ban on petrol and diesel cars won’t slow UK’s shift to electric vehicles: Husjur02/Shutterstock The UK has delayed its ban on the sale of new cars which burn petrol or diesel in internal combustion engines (ICE) from 2030 to 2035. In some ways, this is no surprise: the original plan was to …