News & Insight

16 October 2012

70 per cent of people living in poverty in developing countries are women. Their unequal position in society means they have less power, money, protection from violence and access to education and healthcare than men. Women are more likely to...

15 October 2012

The current education system is yet again in a state of flux: policy based on political ideology rather than educational good practice; an ideology that looks backwards rather than forwards; propaganda rather than pedagogy. Government’s role is to constantly ensure an...

12 October 2012

Picking up an empty cardboard box, walking 200 metres, holding a pen and pushing a button. These are some of the ‘tests’ deployed by the government to assess whether someone is fit for work. They form part of the Work...

12 October 2012

I am not a pessimist, but scratch away at the patina of Olympic greatness and there is a nation stagnating. For at least the near future, the Great British public will have to endure soaring unemployment, shrinking public services and...

11 October 2012

Party conference speeches rarely live on beyond the next news cycle. But Ed Miliband’s ‘one nation’ speech will linger in the political consciousness longer than the average – because he told a story about how the policies he recommended were...

11 October 2012

Winning public support for spending on benefits will not simply be a matter of some new eye-catching policy proposals. First the whole debate on benefits needs re-framing. There is a growing belief that poverty is due more to individual failings...