News & Insight

Decent welfare we can afford

15 August 2013

Two myths dominate debates about welfare. First, fair social provision is desirable but we can no longer afford it, because an ageing population puts extra pressures on pensions and health and social care. Second, poverty bears most severely on low-paid...

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Zero-hour contracts are undignified – let’s ban them

6 August 2013

Zero-hour contracts, long a scandalously under-debated issue, are finally puncturing the media consciousness. The revelation that 90% of Sports Direct staff are consigned to such non-contracts has exposed just how widespread their use has become.1 If the Labour party wants...

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Opinion

A period of contemplation

2 August 2013

Ninety-nine years ago this weekend Britain entered the First World War. Through 2014’s commemorative platform of events, next year will see a collective discussion of that conflict arguably not seen since the publication of the ex-servicemen novels and biographies in...

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Opinion

Power to the people

1 August 2013

On Arnie Graf’s tube journey to our meeting, a young woman had stood up and insisted that he take her seat. “First time that’s happened,” he says. “It made me feel very elderly.” At 69, Graf does not look old,...

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Opinion

Same again?

29 July 2013

Stagnant wages, high debt and low savings created a volatile economic cocktail which left the UK vulnerable to the financial crisis when it struck in 2007. But rather than delivering the tonic that was promised, the government appears to be...

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Saving our justice system

25 July 2013

Legal aid was introduced in the 1940s as one of the pillars of the welfare state. The aim was to provide a vital safety net for everyone including the underprivileged. As Winston Churchill once said 'the treatment of crime and...

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