Extending human and civic rights
Britain backs repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia because of, not in spite of their repressive nature
Maryam Alkhawaja, who was recently interviewed at openDemocracy by David Wearing, has now been arrested in Bahrain after arriving to visit her father, a prisoner of conscience on hunger strike. All the while the UK maintains the fiction of Bahraini “reform”. Similar Posts
The UK should urgently legitimise the revocation of UK citizenship to the Islamic State’s British members
The Islamic State has recently taken control of huge swathes of the Middle East, with British citizens thought to be amongst those involved in the violence. Simon Hale-Ross argues the European Union must stop dwelling on the human rights issue and adopt the directive dealing with Passenger Name Records, and the UK must seek to […]
20 things we learned about democracy in August 2014
Parliament was in recess throughout August, despite calls for its recall. Even so, none of this meant that British democracy stopped last month, with numerous interesting facts, factoids, and observations revealing themselves. Sean Kippin of Democratic Audit selects the best and most interesting. Similar Posts20 things we learned about democracy in March 201520 things we […]
A close inspection of the British Social Attitudes Survey shows that racial prejudice is in long-term decline
The recent release of the 2013 British Social Attitudes report has triggered the usual bout of agonised soul searching about the state of the nation, writes Robert Ford. But despite much talk of the rise of far-right sentiment in the UK, a comprehensive dig into the data shows that in actual fact racial prejudice is on the […]
The West should rethink its approach for promoting gay rights abroad and instead focus on strengthening democracy and civil society
How should Europe and the United States seek to promote gay rights across the world? Omar G. Encarnación writes that while the West has tended to adopt a model which seeks to ‘shame’ states that discriminate against homosexuals, in many cases this may be self-defeating and could even increase the prevalence of discrimination within the target country. […]
The increasingly hostile environment to immigration is unjust and short-sighted
The government’s efforts to bring down net migration have had significant negative impacts on migrants in the UK and those seeking to come here, writes Ruth Grove-White. She argues that treating immigration as a numbers game, to be dealt with through increasingly tough measures felt at the community level, is a short-sighted approach. Similar PostsThe assumption that […]
Five minutes with Graham Allen: “unlike most democracies, the UK lacks a document that sets out the rules of the political game”
The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, chaired by Graham Allen MP, has launched a project which aims to consult with the public about whether the UK needs a written constitution, and what such a document should contains. He argues that the country would be better governed if we took the chance to give ourselves what […]
Sexism in local government is putting women off politics – it is time to do something about it
Sexism continues to be a problem for women in local government, with damage done to individuals and their careers. These problems have a long history, but current government policy – such as the abolition of the Local Government Standards Board – has made the problem worse, and not better, according to Polly Trenow. Similar PostsSweden’s […]
Numerous mutually reinforcing factors are combining to push democracy into worldwide decline
Democracy is in a profound state of crisis, writes Joshua Kurlantzick, and is in retreat in many parts of the world. Here he outlines the implications of this worrying trend, which could include the proliferation and return of authoritarian governments. However, even in established democracies, democracy is losing favour with the middle classes which sustain it. […]
Inside immigration detention centres: Uncoupling detention from a criminal justice imagination
Mary Bosworth‘s research investigates immigration detentions centres in the UK. She argues that the potentially open-ended nature of detention has a profound effect on staff and detainees, making it difficult for the former to plan a regime while, for the latter, creating an environment of uncertainty. The current system is not inevitable, and so, she argues, […]
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