How extreme weather threatens to bring down UK’s power lines and halt supply to homes: Simon Annable/Shutterstock Storm Arwen, described by the UK’s Met Office as “one of the most powerful and damaging winter storms of the last decade”, hit the east coast of Scotland and northern England in late November 2021. Wind gusts of …
Police Scotland: the UK’s second-largest force is also grappling with misogyny and racism: Loch Earn/Shutterstock A damning report published in March found the UK’s largest police force rife with ill-treatment of women, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ officers. Louise Casey found London’s Metropolitan Police to be “institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic”, and recommended radical reform – …
Virgin Orbit bankruptcy: why the UK’s spaceport industry may still have a bright future: Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in April 2023. T. Schneider/Shutterstock The UK’s space sector has shown a remarkable dynamism in the past few years. According to the latest official figures, the sector’s revenue grew about 5.1% in 2021, outpacing the global …
The UK’s first climate refugees: why more defences may not save this village from rising sea levels: A view of Fairbourne from above, showing the Mawddach estuary and the mountains of Eryri in the background. Wozzie/Shutterstock The impact of rising sea levels on our coastlines can be profound. A natural shoreline can respond to sea …
The UK’s unworkable immigration plans allow the government to blame others for its failure: The illegal migration bill, which purports to end small boat crossings and would effectively bar asylum seeking, has made its way through committee stage. The controversial policy is more likely to be challenged in international courts than to curb small boat …
Why a serious climate strategy is almost impossible in the UK’s current political system: In its new energy strategy, the government says it "remains absolutely committed to maximising the vital production of North Sea oil and gas as the North Sea basin declines". donvictorio / shutterstock The UK government reportedly chose Aberdeen, its carbonisation capital, …
Four global problems that will be aggravated by the UK’s recent cuts to international aid: Flags fly outside the UN building in New York. Andrew F. Kazmierski/Shutterstock UK economic forecasts have improved markedly since the September 2022 mini-budget. The economic recession may now be more shallow and public borrowing lower than previously expected. However, faced …
Casey review: how different is the Met police from the UK’s other forces?: zefart/Shutterstock The series of scandals that has hit the UK’s biggest police force suggests longstanding and serious underlying problems. The newly published Casey review details these problems in depth, adding another stain to the Metropolitan police’s reputation. The report found that institutional …
Budget 2023: why the UK’s fiscal watchdog does not share the chancellor’s optimism: Sean Aidan Calderbank/Shutterstock UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt confidently described his first budget of 2023 as a “budget for growth”. He went on to offer a fairly upbeat assessment of both economic performance and future prospects, arguing: “The declinists are wrong and the …
Wales Broadcast Archive: UK’s first national archive shows importance of preserving our audiovisual history: Hundreds of thousands of hours of broadcasting history are available for the first time. National Library of Wales This month’s launch of the Wales Broadcast Archive marks a major step forward in the curation of our collective audiovisual heritage. Housed at …
A brief history of the UK’s Winchcombe meteorite: There was little time for water from the Earth's atmosphere to contaminate the meteorite after it fell. Trustees of the Natural History Museum, Author provided On 28 February 2021, for the first time in 30 years, a meteorite fell in the UK and was later recovered by …
The UK’s four-day working week pilot was a success – here’s what should happen next: Reconstructing the working week. Steve Heap/Shutterstock The world’s largest four-day working week trial has just ended and almost all of the companies that participated have decided to continue with a reduced working hours model. Participants in the trial agreed to …
The decision to ditch the UK’s Department for International Trade is testament to the failure of Brexit: Shutterstock/ratlos The move to merge the UK government’s departments of trade and business has been likened by one journalist to rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship. But it is in fact a significant moment in the country’s …
How climate change could fare in the UK’s new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Prasert Wongchindawest / shutterstock The UK government has announced its business department will be split into separate departments for science, business and energy. The new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to give it its full name, represents …
How consecutive Conservative governments destroyed union rights – a timeline of the UK’s anti-strike laws since the 1970s: Rishi Sunak’s government is attempting to introduce tough new laws that would further limit the right to take industrial action amid continuing strikes in the UK. This is just the latest in a long line of legislation …
COVID drugs: the UK’s treatment and prevention options and how vulnerable people are being forgotten: In February 2022, the UK government abandoned its remaining pandemic restrictions in favour of “living with COVID”. This approach relies largely on vaccines protecting people from severe disease. However, not everyone benefits equally from vaccines. Former “shielders” – clinically vulnerable …
Modern slavery: UK’s focus on ‘genuine’ victims has failed survivors since the 1800s: The exploitation of tens of thousands of people through modern slavery is a human rights crisis. There are an estimated 130,000 people currently living in modern slavery in the UK alone. In recent remarks, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the government’s priority …
Three charts that explain why falling living standards could deepen the UK’s north-south divide: SrideeStudio / Shutterstock Living standards are set to fall by 7% in the UK over the next two years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the government’s independent economic forecaster – but some areas will be hit harder …