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Politics + Society

A large crowd of people with national flags of the UK, and a large St George's cross flag with 'we want our country back' written on it

Is racism becoming more acceptable in the UK?

Simon Goodman, De Montfort University and Rahul Sambaraju, University of Edinburgh

View from above of a small boat filled with people in the ocean

UK to overhaul asylum policy – will the new measures work?

Jonathan Darling, Durham University

Who is Shabana Mahmood? The home secretary is the face of Labour’s most hardline immigration policies to date

Parveen Akhtar, Aston University

Photo of Shabana Mahmood in profile, walking with a red minister's folder
Asylum is not illegal migration – why the UK government shouldn’t conflate the two

Nando Sigona, University of Birmingham

Barbed wire at a refugee camp, with people out of focus in the background
Keir Starmer walking out of Number 10 with binders

The growing paranoia of British politics

Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield

Front page of the Telegraph with the headline 'BBC's Trump bias exposed in memo leak'

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands

Stephen Cushion, Cardiff University

Mette Frederiksen speaking at an event

Denmark’s prime minister has led the country’s hardline migration policy – now she is trying to influence the rest of Europe

Mette Wiggen, University of Leeds

After resignations at the top, the BBC faces a defining test: what does impartiality mean now?

Tom Felle, University of Galway

Front facade of broadcasting house
BBC has survived allegations of political bias before – but the latest crisis comes at a pivotal moment

Simon Potter, University of Bristol

Tim Davie walking
The political meddling that led to BBC crisis – and how to stop it in the future

Steven Barnett, University of Westminster

A reporter, out of focus, outside of BBC broadcasting house in the evening
Trump v the BBC: a legal expert explains how the case could play out

Rebecca Moosavian, University of Leeds

Trump speaking at a US podium
Digital collage illustration of a woman holding a tablet, with her head replaced by an overwhelming, chaotic cloud of information and notifications

What a decade of research reveals about why people don’t trust media in the digital age

Catherine Happer, University of Glasgow

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An external view of the BBC

Trust in the BBC is heavily tied to political identity

Steven David Pickering, Brunel University of London

Keir Starmer walking out of 10 Downing Street.

Why have relations between civil servants and ministers turned so sour – and can they be repaired?

Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary University of London

A man in hoodie and joggers walks in Napier Barracks

Housing asylum seekers in military barracks will be hugely expensive – and politically costly

Melanie Griffiths, University of Birmingham

Is it ok for politicians to use AI? Survey shows where the public draws the line

Steven David Pickering, Brunel University of London

An illustration representing a robot turning sound into documents.
Why the UK’s grooming gangs inquiry is in turmoil – and what needs to happen now

Anne-Marie McAlinden, Queen's University Belfast

Reynolds and Farage sit side by side behind a table, on stage in front of a Reform UK wall
What the review of England’s national curriculum means for disadvantaged schools

Stephen Gorard, Durham University

School pupils in uniform outside school
Making RE part of the national curriculum will promote tolerance – but only if it’s taught in the right way

Daniel Moulin, University of Cambridge

Pupils raising hands in class
Why was it ‘necessary’ for King Charles to take action on Andrew – and why now?

Francesca Jackson, Lancaster University

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor in a black suit and tie
From grooming gangs to Virginia Giuffre, this is the common thread in abuse

Rebecca Hamer, Sheffield Hallam University

Virginia Giuffre (right) and other survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse after a court hearing in 2019.
Mistaken release of migrant sex offender was hardly surprising – prison officers are dangerously overstretched

Kaigan Carrie, University of Westminster

A prison officer leans against a gate outside of a prison
Plaid Cymru’s staggeringly large victory in Caerphilly is a warning to both Labour and Reform

Matt Wall, Swansea University and Louis Bromfield, Swansea University

Rhun ap Iorwerth and Lindsay Whittle with Plaid Cymru supporters at Caerphilly castle.

Glow-up course

Woman with pen looking at laptop

How to make a change in your life – and stick to it

Abigail Parrish, University of Sheffield

How to argue without falling out – an expert guide

Jessica Robles, Loughborough University

Two people sat on a sofa after an argument.
Feel like you’re in a funk? Here’s what you can do to get out of it – and how you can prevent it from happening in the future

Jolanta Burke, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

A cartoon man and woman looking worn out and sad.
How to get control of your time

Boróka Bó, University College Dublin and Kamila Kolpashnikova, Western University

Illustration of a young, overwhelmed woman leaning over a massive to-do list

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Most read this week

1.
BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands

Stephen Cushion, Cardiff University

BBC bias? The Prescott memo falls well short of the standards of impartiality it demands

Editors' picks

The hubris arc: how visionary politicians turn into authoritarians

Trang Chu, University of Oxford and Tim Morris, University of Oxford

An illustration of a giant man looking down on people.
How domestic abusers use emotional bonding to control their victims – new study

Mags Lesiak, University of Cambridge

A couple holding hands
Politics has always been a game – but why does it now feel like we’re being cheated?

Tim Beasley-Murray, UCL

The board for the original Landlord's Game, now known as Monopoly.
What interviews with ordinary Germans living under the Nazis can teach us about our current politics

Melissa Butcher, Royal Holloway, University of London

A black and white photo of tourists lying on chairs in the sun while two Nazis pass through the crowd

Cities

A young woman walking alone along a lit path in a park at night

Women are three times as likely as men to feel unsafe in parks – here’s how we can design them better

Anna Barker, University of Leeds; Jennie Gray, University of Leeds, and Vikki Houlden, University of Leeds

Five ways you might already encounter AI in cities (and not realise it)

Noortje Marres, University of Warwick

People walking in a crowd, with blue facial recognition squares over their faces
Thirty-five years since the wall fell, Berlin is divided – over what to do with crumbling communist buildings

Katrin Schreiter, King's College London

A historical photo of people standing and sitting on the Berlin wall as it is about to be torn down.