Talking up the idea of a 'free speech crisis' is a favourite of Tories, but this latest ploy is pure hypocrisy. The Covid crisis is hitting universities hard. Earlier this year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that as a result of the economic downturn, the UK higher education sector will lose between £3bn and £19bn in the 2020/2021 academic year. Research suggested that up to 13 universities could face financial ruin from the crisis, forcing job losses and the potential of bankrup

How the Conservatives fail to take responsibility for their actions time and again Following the revelation that one in five care home residents have been infected with coronavirus, which in turn has led to an estimated 20,000 fatalities, Boris Johnson was asked to give an explanation as to why care homes had been so heavily impacted by the crisis. Johnson, rather than taking responsibility, suggested that it was the care homes and the carers themselves that were at fault. He claimed: “One of

Liberal Democrats leadership candidate Layla Moran has said she wants to push the party to the left, making them “even more radical than Labour”. In a new booklet she edits called Build Back Better, she puts forward contributions from a range of Lib Dem MPs, members and supporters. The booklet proposes a range of left-wing policies. These include a new human rights partnership with the EU, free universal broadband and taking over private health resources to clear a backlog of NHS operations ca

At a recent government briefing, Boris Johnson was asked by Italian journalist, Marco Varvello, about potential migrant workers hoping to come back to the UK. Commentators were quick to point out the irony that the Italian phrase, meaning “everyone welcome”, largely contradicted the anti-migrant stance Johnson had publicly taken since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Going back to December 2019, we saw Johnson and the Conservatives storm to an 80-seat majority off the back of a campaign built upon

You want public money, you act in the public interest. Research conducted by the High Pay Centre has found that at least 18% of FTSE 100 companies and 23% of FTSE 250 companies were intending to furlough staff, using government money to pay 80% of their wages. The research also suggested that in the past five years, the companies which are furloughing spent a combined £321 million on CEO pay, £26 billion in shareholder dividends and made £42 billion in profit. The toal estimated cost of the go

A new book looks at the potential equalising effects of a shorter working week. The notion of a four-day working week (with no reduction of income) has been thrust into the political limelight of late, with Labour even including the idea in its election manifesto. The idea is discussed at length in a new book, The Four Day Week, by Andrew Barnes. Barnes is founder and managing director of the New Zealand estate planning firm that tried such an experiment back in 2018, Perpetual Guardian. Barn