The UK export figures were driven by services – but there are ways the goods sector could catch up. Skorzewiak/Shutterstock UK business is beaming with pride with the recent news of the country’s emergence as the fourth largest exporter in the world based on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report. The UK jumped three places in 2022, surpassing France, the Netherlands and Japan. This pride is justified, as there have been many challenges along the way, especially in the wake of Brexit, when the UK found itself redefining its economic landscape. With the dust settling from ..read more

The health and wellbeing of primary school children declined between 2014 and 2022. 1st footage/Shutterstock The COVID pandemic affected several aspects of children’s health and wellbeing. The number of children referred to specialist mental health teams in England has soared by more than 50% in just three years, for example. But recent research from my colleagues and I reveals that problems such as these were increasing even before the pandemic. Our study explored changes in the health and wellbeing of 36,951 primary school children between 2014 and 2022. We analysed the data from anonymous a ..read more

Small independent businesses may pass on the cost of import checks to customers. Alena Veasey/Shutterstock New import checks on foods arriving from the EU could affect supplies at Britain’s local delis, high-street greengrocers or independent cafes. Worse, they could lead to shortages that affect the very viability of these businesses. So what are these new checks and what does it all mean for consumers in the UK? Three years ago, the UK departed the EU single market. This meant that the border checks applied to goods coming into the UK from other nations would also apply to goods from members ..read more

Michael Conrad/Shutterstock The UK’s farming landscape has changed dramatically since Brexit. Agricultural policy has been adjusted, and EU subsidies, which funded UK farming for decades, are no more. Before the split, those subsidies helped British farmers to the tune of nearly £3 billion a year, which for some, made up 90% of their annual income. That system is now being phased out, in a move which the UK government claims will be more environmentally sustainable. Central to this new approach are “environmental land management schemes”, designed to encourage farmers to produce what are known ..read more

The division between right and left around the world has rarely felt more polarised. Of course there have always been differences between people on the different ends of the political spectrum, but now it seems they are living in different worlds entirely. This is perhaps related to the tendency for those on the right to focus on the past and to strive for a world that once was and the tendency for those on the left to do the opposite. Take two of the most famous political slogans of recent times: Barack Obama’s “Yes we can” and Donald Trump’s “Make America great again”. While Obama’s message ..read more

Twenty-five years ago, when new institutions of national government were created in Scotland and Wales, they reflected the widely held view that the Welsh and Scots should have more control over their economies, aspects of welfare provision and key public services. Yet at that time, hardly anyone thought devolution might be applied to England – despite it being the largest, wealthiest and most populated part of the UK. Today, things look rather different. The notion of English devolution has morphed from being of interest only to constitutional experts to being a preoccupation of Britain’s pol ..read more

Democracy faces challenges around the globe in 2024: at least 64 countries will ask their citizens to elect a government this year. One of the most keenly observed will be the United Kingdom general election, likely to be held in November. The British Labour party has not won an election since 2005, and has lost the last four elections. At the last election in 2019, it was beaten handsomely. The 2019 result saw the Conservatives win 365 seats of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, while Labour limped in with 202 seats. At that point, Boris Johnson was an immensely popular political leader ..read more

Democracy faces challenges around the globe in 2024: at least 64 countries will ask their citizens to elect a government this year. One of the most keenly observed will be the United Kingdom general election, likely to be held in November. The British Labour party has not won an election since 2010, and has lost the last four elections. At the last election in 2019, it was beaten handsomely. The 2019 result saw the Conservatives win 365 seats of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, while Labour limped in with 202 seats. At that point, Boris Johnson was an immensely popular political leader ..read more

The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales was set up in 2021 and has been gathering evidence since then. vladm/Shutterstock A commission set up to consider the constitutional future of Wales has published its final report. The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, co-chaired by former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Cardiff University’s Professor Laura McAllister, maps three different “viable” options. First, they suggest “enhancing” devolution. This would see Wales operating similarly to how it does now, only with more powers for j ..read more

Twenty-five years ago, when new institutions of national government were created in Scotland and Wales, they reflected the widely held view that the Welsh and Scots should have more control over their economies, aspects of welfare provision and key public services. Yet at that time, hardly anyone thought devolution might be applied to England – despite it being the largest, wealthiest and most populated part of the UK. Today, things look rather different. The notion of English devolution has morphed from being of interest only to constitutional experts to being a preoccupation of Britain’s pol ..read more