By Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics & International Studies, The Open University
Alex Ford, Professor of Biology, University of Portsmouth
Joelle Grogan, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, UCD Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin
Jonquil Lowe, Visiting Academic, The Open University
Miriam Sorace, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics, University of Reading
Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy & Regional Development, Co-Director Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), University of Bath
The government has set out its legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session in the king’s speech. Our panel of experts reveals the key points.
Measures to ease high living costs
Jonquil Lowe, Visiting Academic, The Open University
Surveys suggest that the cost of living is still a major concern for UK households, with energy and food prices topping the list of worries. In response,
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By Andrew Gawthorpe, Lecturer in History and International Studies, Leiden University
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are likely to discuss many issues as they meet this week in Beijing. But alongside trade, technology and the war in Iran, one topic of conversation will stand out – the future of Taiwan.
Taiwan has long been a sensitive issue in Sino-American relations. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province which must be reunited with the mainland. The United States has long opposed such a step. Yet in recent months, Trump has fuelled…
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By Daniela de Angeli Dutra, Lecturer in Zoology, Bangor University
Riley Casagrande, Science Communicator, Stanford University
An increase of just 0.03% in illegal gold mining is associated with a 20 to 46% increase in the local incidence of malaria in Yanomami lands in the Brazilian Amazon.
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By Periodismo de Barrio
Cuba hosts some of the world’s richest biodiversity but faces the impacts of climate change, human activity and weak protections. Scientists and activists strive to preserve endangered wildlife and ecosystems.
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By Glyn White, Senior Lecturer in 20th-Century Literature and Culture, University of Salford
Morecambe and Wise still have a place in the hearts of the British public, and Eric was instrumental in ensuring their enduring popularity.
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By Elizabeth Peatfield, Senior Lecturer, Criminal Justice, Liverpool John Moores University
In Britain, whether cannabis is treated as medicine or a crime may depend less on medical need than on the ability to pay. In 2018, the UK government changed drug policy, allowing specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products.
The decision was presented as a move towards evidence-based healthcare, recognising cannabis may have therapeutic value for health…
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By Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science, University of Southampton
The government has recently introduced simpler rules on recycling in England, planning to end the confusion of different types of waste being collected in different postcodes. Scotland and Northern Ireland already operate (or are updating) their own devolved recycling laws that are equivalent to England’s simpler recycling system.
This should also mean the widespread introduction of weekly…
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By Edward White, PhD Candidate in Psychology, Kingston University
A former artist turned art forger, Lori Butler (Michaela Coel) poses a deceptively simple question at the heart of Steven Soderbergh’s new film, The Christophers: does it really matter who paints an artwork?
She is commissioned by the adult children of renowned painter Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) – Barnaby (James Corden) and Sallie (Jessica Gunning) – to “complete” the last of his unfinished works, The Christophers.
Once complete, their real intention is to sell the series of paintings for a fortune…
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By Nye Davies, Lecturer in Politics, Cardiff University
May 7 will go down as the worst election in the history of Welsh Labour. More than a century of electoral dominance ended with the party sitting in opposition in the Senedd (Welsh parliament) for the first time.
Given Welsh Labour’s once-hegemonic position, the scale of the defeat is astonishing. This was not simply a loss, but a collapse. The party now holds just nine seats in the Senedd,…
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By Alex Brown, Associate Professor of Medieval History, Durham University
Grace Owen, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Late Medieval History), Durham University
Despite the deadliness of the disease, it was possible to recover from plague, and medieval chroniclers mention the possibility – however unlikely – of survival.
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