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1. Using Risk Analysis to Shape Border Management: A Review of Approaches during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author:
Kelley Lee, Julianne Piper, and Jennifer Fang
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The near universal adoption of travel measures by governments to control the spread of COVID-19 has proved controversial during the pandemic. National responses have been highly varied and frequently changing, and the use of travel measures—ranging from advisories and screening to quarantine, testing, immunity certification, and restrictions on entry—has been poorly coordinated across jurisdictions. Particularly in the early stages of the crisis, this created chaos for travelers and the travel sector, and caused significant economic and social harms. Many governments also failed to clearly communicate the rationale for using travel measures, the evidence underpinning them, and the measures’ role within overall pandemic response strategies. There is now substantial evidence that these measures’ early and stringent use by some governments during the initial stages of the pandemic slowed the importation of the virus and reduced its onward transmission. Yet, there is also growing recognition of weaknesses in the quality of evidence available to inform policy decisions. Evaluating the appropriateness of travel measures and applying them effectively during future public-health emergencies will depend on international consensus on methodologies that lead to a more harmonized and coordinated approach and to greater public trust in policy decisions. This report presents a comparative analysis of 11 publicly available methodologies used to assess travel-related risks during the pandemic—those of Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Air Transport Association, World Health Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and European Union. It offers a set of lessons learned and recommendations, including a proposed decision instrument that could improve the use of risk analysis for border management during future public-health emergencies.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, International Organization, Governance, Border Control, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Global Focus, and United States of America

2. External Processing: A Tool to Expand Protection or Further Restrict Territorial Asylum?

Author:
Pauline de Oliveira and Nicholas Feith Tan
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Access to territorial asylum is under significant pressure in many corners of the world. Pushbacks at borders as well as pandemic-era mobility restrictions have prevented many asylum seekers from reaching their destinations. And new and ongoing crises, including those in Afghanistan and Ukraine, have highlighted the need to offer protection closer to where vulnerable populations live, and for high-income countries to find ways to share responsibilities with the low- and middle-income countries that host the overwhelming majority of people in need of international protection. This has led to renewed interest in external processing, which involves conducting part or all of the asylum procedure outside a destination country’s territory. Notably, even as countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom have adopted policies to offshore asylum processing to countries such as Papua New Guinea and Rwanda in hopes of deterring spontaneous arrivals, there is growing interest in using external processing in ways that complement existing territorial asylum and expand, rather than restrict, protection opportunities. This report—part of the Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World initiative led by MPI and the Robert Bosch Stiftung—highlights the opportunities that external processing offers as well as the challenges to its implementation and the risks it could pose to territorial asylum. It explores three categories of external processing policies implemented or proposed to date: humanitarian visas, emergency evacuations, and external processing centers. The report also identifies key conditions that must be present for external processing to occur in a protection-sensitive manner.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Governance, Refugees, Asylum, Visa, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Australia, Rwanda, Papua New Guinea, and Global Focus

3. The British monarchy

Author:
Catherine Barnard, Frank Cranmer, John Curtice, Robert Hazell, and Ailsa Henderson
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
May 2023 will witness a landmark event: the coronation of King Charles III. Given the event’s significance, and the high levels of interest in the British monarchy that have been apparent since the death of Elizabeth II, UK in a Changing Europe and the Constitution Unit, UCL, have produced a report to explain the role of the modern monarchy and its place in the UK’s constitutional system. The report explains what the institution does and how it does it, and places the monarchy in its wider historical and comparative context. It provides a clear and accessible account of the monarchy and is intended as an indispensable guide ahead of the coronation. The report includes analysis from specialists on the monarchy and contributions from scholars who study UK politics and society and who examine the institution from their own specialist perspectives.
Topic:
Governance, Constitution, and Monarchy
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

4. New Labour, New Britain: In Conversation with Lord Mandelson

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n the final session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 6 May 2022, Dr Robert Saunders was joined by Lord Mandelson to talk about his time as Neil Kinnock's Director of Communications, his ministerial career during Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's premierships, and his reflections on the state of the Labour Party in 2022.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Domestic Policy, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

5. New Labour, New Britain: Audience Q&A on Where Next for Labour

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the third panel session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Dr Lise Butler, Harry Quilter-Pinner, Professor Eunice Goes and Labour MPs, Rupa Huq and Stella Creasy, answer questions from our in-person audience on 'Where Next for the Labour Party'.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Opposition, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Eunice Goes

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Professor Eunice Goes considers the position that the Labour Party finds itself in today and asks where next for the Party under Keir Starmer's leadership.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Opposition, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

7. New Labour, New Britain: Stella Creasy MP

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Stella Creasy (MP for Walthamstow) considers the position that the Labour Party finds itself in today, reflects on the state of British politics in 2022 and asks where next for the Party under Keir Starmer's leadership.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Opposition, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

8. New Labour, New Britain: Harry Quilter-Pinner

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Harry Quilter-Pinner from the Institute for Public Policy Research considers the position that the Labour Party finds itself in today and asks where next for the Party under Keir Starmer's leadership.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

9. New Labour, New Britain: Rupa Huq MP

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Rupa Huq (MP for Ealing Central and Acton) considers the position that the Labour Party finds itself in today and reflects on her time in Parliament since 2015 and her years of involvement in Labour politics.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

10. New Labour, New Britain: Dr Lise Butler

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Dr Lise Butler considers the position that the Labour Party finds itself in today and asks where next for the Party under Keir Starmer's leadership.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

11. New Labour, New Britain: Q&A about the ‘Blair Revolution’ in British Politics

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Following a panel discussion at the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Polly Toynbee, Will Hutton and Sunder Katwala answer questions from our in-person audience about the extent to which New Labour effected a 'Blair Revolution' in British politics.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

12. New Labour, New Britain: Will Hutton

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel discussion from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Will Hutton reflects on the achievements and failings of Tony Blair's governments and considers whether he affected a 'Blair Revolution' in British politics and society.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

13. New Labour, New Britain: Sunder Katwala

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n this panel discussion from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Sunder Katwala considers whether there was a 'Blair Revolution' in British politics, how the Blair-Brown administrations changed Britain and how important identity has been to contemporary political discourse.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, Transition, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

14. New Labour, New Britain: Polly Toynbee

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this panel event from the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Polly Toynbee considers whether there was a 'Blair Revolution' in British politics and reflects on her own experiences of campaigning and reporting during the 1980s and 1990s.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

15. 'Between the Obsolete and the Utopian': David Miliband Lecture at the Mile End Institute, 6 May 2022

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n his Keynote Address to the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, the former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, explores the significance of the 1997 Election and the New Labour 'Project', before considering what the Labour Party can learn from 1997 twenty-five years on.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16. 'Between the Obsolete and the Utopian': David Miliband Q&A on Friday 6 May 2022

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Following his Keynote Address to the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on Friday 6 May 2022, David Miliband took questions from our in-person audience about his time in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments as well as his thoughts on the future of the Labour Party.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

17. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Matthew Hilton introduces the Rt Hon David Miliband

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Friday 6 May 2022, Professor Matthew Hilton (Vice Principal for Humanities and Social Sciences) introduces the Rt Hon David Miliband, who delivered the Keynote Address at the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference to mark the 25th anniversary of New Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 General Election.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

18. New Labour, New Britain: Dame Margaret Hodge

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', Dame Margaret Hodge reflects on the fall-out from the Wilson and Callaghan governments, how the Labour Party changed before 1997 and the contribution of Local Government to New Labour's landslide in May 1997.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Local, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

19. New Labour, New Britain: John McTernan

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', the journalist, John McTernan, reflects on the significance of the 1997 election and his time as Director of Political Operations for Tony Blair from 2005 to 2007.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

20. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Sarah Childs

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 campaign', Professor Sarah Childs reflects on the 'watershed' importance of New Labour in advancing the number of women in Parliament and considers whether New Labour fundamentally changed how women feel about politics and Britain's political institutions.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Feminism, Gender, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

21. New Labour, New Britain: Rt Hon Caroline Flint

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', the former MP for Don Valley, Caroline Flint, reflects on how New Labour changed the Labour Party and her experiences serving in the Blair and Brown governments.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

22. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Tim Bale on the result of the 1997 General Election

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this presentation, Professor Tim Bale explores the result of the 1997 General Election and considers how New Labour changed the electoral geography of the United Kingdom.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

23. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Steven Fielding on Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In his introduction to the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on Friday 6 May, Professor Steven Fielding explores the impact on New Labour's 'modernisation' efforts in the 1997 General Election campaign, before introducing Professor Tim Bale.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Policy, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

24. Constitution and Governance in the UK

Author:
Anand Menon, Jill Rutter, and Sarah Overton
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
The UK constitution and system of governance have recently been subjected to unprecedented strain. Brexit and Covid-19, in conjunction with the governing style adopted by the Johnson administration, have raised profound questions as to whether the norms and conventions that form the basis of the UK’s uncodified constitution are still fit for purpose. These are the issues that are brought together in this report, in which 41 leading scholars assess the impacts of Brexit, Covid-19 and the Johnson government on our constitution and system of governance. They discuss whether these arrangements, that have evolved over decades if not centuries, are sufficiently robust and fit for the purpose of governing a diverse and complex UK.
Topic:
Governance, Constitution, Brexit, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

25. A beginner’s guide to the European Union

Author:
UK in a Changing Europe
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
UK in a Changing Europe is launching a new series of ‘beginner’s guides’ – quick, easy guides to the most pressing issues, important institutions and divisive debates in politics and society today. We’re kicking off our series with a guide to the European Union, an institution encompassing around 47,000 staff, seven institutions, over thirty agencies, and a population of almost 450 million. It’s pretty complicated, to say the least. But here we have tried to set out ​in an accessible and straightforward way what the EU is and how it came to be, what its institutions are and what they do, the EU budget, and how the EU makes and enforces laws and regulations. This guide is perfect for those who are learning about European institutions and multilevel governance for the first time during their politics A-level. ​It will also be useful for undergraduate students beginning their studies in law, politics and economics who want to know more about how the EU interacts with their chosen subject area, or seasoned professionals who just want a quick reminder on how member states and European bodies cooperate on key policy areas.
Topic:
Governance, European Union, and Institutions
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

26. European Security Management at the National Level. A Comparative Analysis of Strategies for the Development of Defence Capability in the United Kingdom and Poland

Author:
Joanna Iwancz and Bartłomiej H. Toszek
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article presents the positions of the UK and Polish governments on the importance of European security management as a factor influencing and shaping the defence doctrine in both states. Building on the systemic nature of European security, security management concepts, as defined in UK and Poland’s strategies for developing defence capabilities, have been examined using a system analysis. The assessment of the issue from the perspective of the UK and Polish governments is based on a decision-making analysis, while differences in the approach to European security are demonstrated through a comparative method. The authors have shown that the actual perception of European security as part of the global order is a factor determining the current involvement of the UK Government in the process of security management. However, the Polish government has shown interest in similar actions only to the extent these are convergent with national security.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Military Strategy, and Governance
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Poland

27. Not for patching? Public opinion and the commitment to ‘build back better’

Author:
Karl Pike, Farah Hussain, Philip Cowley, and Patrick Diamond
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Announcing the launch of a ‘Build Back Better Council’ in January 2021, bringing together various business leaders, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that ‘as we recover from this crisis it won’t be enough to just go back to normal – our promise will be to build back better and level up opportunity for people and businesses across the UK’. 1 The following month, the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, said he believed ‘there’s a mood in the air which we don’t detect often in Britain. It was there in 1945, after the sacrifice of war, and it’s there again now. It’s the determination that our collective sacrifice must lead to a better future’. 2 The historian and peer – and the Mile End Institute’s patron – Lord Hennessy similarly argued recently that the Covid-19 experience ‘has sharpened our sense of the duty of care we have one for another, that a state has for all of its people, to a degree we have not felt collectively since World War Two and its aftermath’. 3 These appraisals of the impact of the crisis, and political commitments to change, are giving rise to debate. Are we to experience a moment similar to that of postwar transformation? If so, what is the prospect for the Britain that emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic to be significantly different, in policy terms, from what preceded it? The latter question in particular animates this project – Not for Patching?, of which this report marks our earliest findings, based on an opinion survey. Ipsos MORI surveyed 1,120 adults across Great Britain, posing questions across a range of policy areas. Fieldwork was carried out online from 19 March 2021 to 22 March 2021, and data weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error, but they still give us an insight into the public’s priorities. Further analysis of this data, and further surveys, will continue to add to this project. The purpose of this report is to examine the views of the British public on what rebuilding after the pandemic might mean. What we offer here are some preliminary indications of what policy areas the public want to prioritise, and how the machinery of government has managed and performed during this crisis. We are interested in both priorities and performance here, not least because we consider them linked.
Topic:
Infrastructure, Governance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

28. Forty Years On New Perspectives on the 1981 Budget

Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This year is the fortieth anniversary of the 1981 UK Budget Statement, one of the most controversial in British history. Geoffrey Howe, the Conservative Chancellor in Margaret Thatcher's first government, deliberately increased taxes during a vicious world recession after two years of tight monetary policy and punishingly high-interest rates, to tame high inflation. Inflation dropped, but the Budget also accelerated deindustrialization and spiralling unemployment, and turbocharged inequality. It has since indelibly shaped memories of ‘Thatcherism’. Forty years on, the current Conservative government is at a new fork in the road in its economic policy, grappling with pandemic spending legacies, the fallout from Brexit, and post-2008 economics, and with electoral pledges both to fiscal probity and to 'level up' the UK.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Governance, Budget, Unemployment, and Deindustrialization
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

29. After the Virus: Lessons from The Past For A Better Future

Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter have published a powerful manifesto for change post-Covid-19. It argues that the world needs ‘a new morality’ to recover from the pandemic and to prepare for future crises - and that Britain’s own history points the way. In 'After the Virus', they show how decades of neoliberalism and austerity left us vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19; they show how important history is for British and global public policy today, going back 400 years to look at Elizabeth I’s innovative Poor Laws, the world’s first universal welfare system; and they present practical proposals, inspired by our own history, that will promote a morality of nurturing, not exploiting, people and the planet.
Topic:
Governance, Neoliberalism, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

30. The Limehouse Declaration 40 Years On: Can the SDP Teach Us Anything Today?

Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n partnership with Progressive Britain, we were delighted to host this live webinar chaired by MEI Deputy Director, Dr Colm Murphy. Combining the insights of a witness seminar with contemporary analysis, the panel aimed to highlight the similarities (and differences) between the 1981 schism and the contemporary moment, using this anniversary as an opportunity to gain insights into the politics of today.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Progressivism
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

31. A New Settlement: Place and Wellbeing in Local Government

Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This event launched the report, 'A New Settlement: Place and Wellbeing in Local Government', in partnership with LGiU with support from Research England. The report outlines a new settlement for place in England built around the insights and the experiences of councils grappling with these challenges across the country.
Topic:
Government, Governance, Local, and Welfare State
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

32. Keir Starmer's Leadership: One Year On

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This special event brought together an expert panel to discuss Keir Starmer’s first year as Leader of the Opposition in the aftermath of the major elections that took place in Scotland, Wales, and other parts of the UK. The session commenced with a presentation by Anthony Wells, Director of Political and Social Research (YouGov), who gave an insight into what the polls say about Labour’s performance over the past year and the present and future challenges facing the Labour leadership.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

33. UK Constitutional Reform: What Has Worked and What Hasn’t?

Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
The past two decades have seen some of the most far-reaching changes to the UK constitution since universal suffrage. Many virtues have been ascribed to these reforms. To the extent that criticism exists, it has often been to argue that further reform is necessary. This online conference adopts a different approach. It aims to provide a critical evaluation of recent constitutional reforms. Bringing together leading constitutional experts and politicians from the United Kingdom and around the world, the conference will examine the following questions: Did the reforms deliver what their proponents claimed they would? Have the reforms generally improved governance, or added further complication? Have the reforms helped to unite the kingdom or driven further division? Have reforms enhanced or obscured accountability? The programme consists of 8 panels spread over two half days, complemented by a keynote address from a senior figure in the UK government. See the outline below and containing more information about panels.
Topic:
Governance, Reform, Constitution, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

34. Professor Sophie Harman on the Traps Leaders Can Fall into during a Public Health Emergency.

Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Professor Sophie Harman discusses the five traps political leaders can fall into when it comes to a public health emergency as part of the 'Lessons on a crisis' series, presented by Evan Davis, for BBC Radio 4.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

35. Dealing with the Neighbours: The case for an affiliate membership of the European Union and a new Security Council

Author:
Andrew Duff
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
Brexit is proving to be even more troublesome than expected, giving rise to a gradual softening of British public opinion towards the EU. Any future UK government is likely to want to renegotiate parts of the separation deal that Boris Johnson struck with the EU. Reconciliation between Britain and Europe will take time and need careful calibration, however. The EU should prepare for this constructively and use the opportunity of a British renegotiation to review all its other association agreements - none of which are without defect. The question of governance lies at the heart of the problems which impair the EU’s relations with its neighbours. The EEA and Swiss arrangements are in any case due for overhaul and upgrading. The EU’s traditional enlargement policy to the east and south has foundered, and it would be better if this were admitted openly. Not only are candidate countries unable to meet the demands of membership, but the EU itself is too weak to take on the burden of new members. Instead, a new category of affiliate membership should be written into the EU treaties. Affiliation should allow the EU to develop close economic and cultural partnerships with its neighbours in a democratic fashion. Affiliate states would enjoy greater access to the EU institutions than is permitted under any of the current association agreements. Affiliate membership would also be available as an option for any current EU member state which, like the UK, chose not to adhere to the goal of an ever closer union. Such differentiated integration of the wider Europe will require the EU to build stronger federal government at the centre. The new structure should also be underpinned by the establishment of a European Security Council combining EU member and affiliate states with NATO — including Canada and the US — in regular strategic and operational decisions to protect Western security. The French presidency in the first half of 2022 should take the necessary first steps. The Conference on the Future of Europe might consider these proposals.
Topic:
Security, Governance, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

36. Brexit and Beyond: government, law and external relations

Author:
UK in a Changing Europe
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Brexit is done. The formal negotiations are over — even though the Trade and Cooperation Agreement paves the way to many further negotiations between the UK and the EU. Our understanding of what Brexit does mean in practice is just beginning. This mini report is for those who want to dig deep on Brexit and its impact upon British governance and the constitutional makeup of the UK, and what Britain’s place in the world is set to look like outside of the European Union. This mini report is taken from the Brexit and Beyond report.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, Governance, Law, European Union, Constitution, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

37. Facilitating Environmental Migration through Humanitarian and Labour Pathways: Recommendations for the UK Government

Author:
Helen Dempster, Amelia Dal Pra, and Mariam Traore Chazalnoel
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The impact of climate change, environmental degradation, and disasters on migration and human mobility is receiving more and more attention, by policymakers, academics, and the press alike. While there are gaps in the evidence base, much suggests that the vast majority of people will seek to move internally and regionally, rather than internationally. That being said, there are good reasons as to why high-income countries may want to facilitate so-called international “environmental migration” by adapting their existing legal and policy frameworks. This paper outlines how countries such as the United States of America (US), Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and various European countries have explored, created, or adapted their legal and policy frameworks to explicitly respond to international environmental migration, and the lessons learned therein. It concludes with a series of policy recommendations for the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) as to how the UK could adapt their own legal and policy frameworks to better respond to international environmental migration.
Topic:
Environment, Migration, Governance, and Partisanship
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

38. June 2020 Issue

Author:
Paul Cruickshank, Don Rassler, Audrey Alexander, Chelsea Daymon, Meili Criezis, Christopher Hockey, Michael Jones, Mark Dubowitz, Saeed Ghasseminejad, and Nikita Malik
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
COVID-19 is arguably the biggest crisis the planet has faced since the Second World War and will likely have significant impacts on international security in ways which can and cannot be anticipated. For this special issue on COVID-19 and counterterrorism, we convened five of the best and brightest thinkers in our field for a virtual roundtable on the challenges ahead. In the words of Magnus Ranstorp, “COVID-19 and extremism are the perfect storm.” According to another of the panelists, Lieutenant General (Ret) Michael Nagata, “the time has come to acknowledge the stark fact that despite enormous expenditures of blood/treasure to ‘kill, capture, arrest’ our way to strategic counterterrorism success, there are more terrorists globally today than on 9/11, and COVID-19 will probably lead to the creation of more.” Audrey Kurth Cronin put it this way: “COVID-19 is a boost to non-status quo actors of every type. Reactions to the pandemic—or more specifically, reactions to governments’ inability to respond to it effectively—are setting off many types of political violence, including riots, hate crimes, intercommunal tensions, and the rise of criminal governance. Terrorism is just one element of the growing political instability as people find themselves suffering economically, unable to recreate their pre-COVID lives.” The roundtable identified bioterrorism as a particular concern moving forward, with Juan Zarate noting that “the severity and extreme disruption of a novel coronavirus will likely spur the imagination of the most creative and dangerous groups and individuals to reconsider bioterrorist attacks.” Ali Soufan warned that “although the barriers to entry for terrorists to get their hands on bio weapons remain high, they are gradually being lowered due to technological advances and the democratization of science.” The special issue also features five articles. Audrey Alexander examines the security threat COVID-19 poses to the northern Syria detention camps holding Islamic State members, drawing on a wide range of source materials, including recent interviews she conducted with General Mazloum Abdi, the top commander of the SDF, and former U.S. CENTCOM Commander Joseph Votel. Chelsea Daymon and Meili Criezis untangle the pandemic narratives spun by Islamic State supporters online. Christopher Hockey and Michael Jones assess al-Shabaab’s response to the spread of COVID-19 in Somalia. Mark Dubowitz and Saeed Ghasseminejad document how the Iranian regime has spread disinformation relating to the pandemic. Finally, Nikita Malik discusses the overlaps between pandemic preparedness and countering terrorism from a U.K. perspective.
Topic:
Communications, Governance, Counter-terrorism, Media, Islamic State, Crisis Management, Al Shabaab, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Disinformation
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, Iran, Middle East, Syria, and Global Focus

39. The Privatization and Financialisation of Social Care in the UK

Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Even before the arrival of COVID-19, the care sector was already in long-term crisis, in large part due to insufficient funding, but the sector has also been under pressure from structural changes resulting from privatisation and financialisation.3 Social care is one of many elements of everyday life which, over the past few decades, have been repackaged to suit the needs of global capital. The process has transformed a social need into a financial issue which in turn translates into new social relations where narratives are constructed in terms of markets and efficiency. Care sector workers are treated as a financial overhead rather than integral to the quality of care provided. The financialisation of social care is an ongoing systemic process, which is accentuated in the increasingly challenging current global investment climate as investors seek alternatives to the low returns from traditional secure investments such as government bonds. This paper is concerned with the tensions resulting in the private provision of social care services. Some of the larger care providers are owned by financial investors that have earned substantial profits via opaque corporate practices. Discussion in the paper shows that while social care offers relatively low risk and high return investment opportunities, structuring care services as a private sector endeavour risks major adverse social outcomes, potentially resulting in: Extensive transfers to the world’s richest via the servicing of basic needs for some of society’s most vulnerable people, financed by taxes and lifetimes’ savings A two tier system of residential care where private providers seek to serve only self-funders Increasing strain on a largely female and minority ethnic un-unionised work force Increasing pressures on (largely female) informal carers that pick up the pieces of the failings in the care system In the inequitable practices of social care providers. However, the paper demonstrates that in the long term, tweaking the margins of regulation will not be sufficient to address the fundamental structural flaws underlying our current care system. Social care services are not competitive and the sector does not work as a conventional market. The analysis acknowledges the complexities of restructuring the care system and therefore offers both short and long term policy suggestions: • Conditions for financial support to the sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic should be imposed to curtail the current extractive practices of some care providers. Tighter regulation should promote socially responsible care provision, backed up with additional financial resources and long-term political commitment. • Additional financial support is needed for local authorities to enable them to provide social care and reduce their reliance on private companies. • Consideration should be given to innovative alternative provider models that draw on international examples of good practice. The current structure of social care provision inevitably promotes inequality, while transparency and accountability are lacking. Moreover, the care system is increasingly moulded to suit the priorities of investors rather than social care needs. In the wake of the pandemic, more resources are urgently needed for social care but this is an opportunity for a radical rethink of the ways in which we support the most vulnerable in our society.
Topic:
Privatization, Governance, Finance, Welfare, and Social Services
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

40. The European Union’s post-Brexit reckoning with financial markets

Author:
Rebecca Christie and Thomas Wieser
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
In the negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom over their future relationship, we see a high probability of a weak contractual outcome, given the dominance of politics over considerations of market efficiency.
Topic:
Markets, Governance, Europe, Brexit, Negotiation, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

41. A post-Brexit agreement for research and innovation

Author:
Michael Leigh, Beth Thompson, and Reinhilde Veugelers
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
This report sets out what the Wellcome Trust and Bruegel have learned from a project to simulate a negotiation process between the UK and EU to create a post-Brexit research and innovation agreement. Our negotiating scenario assumed that the UK had left the EU with a withdrawal agreement, and that the negotiation was taking place during a ‘standstill’ transition period.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Governance, European Union, Research, Brexit, Macroeconomics, Innovation, and Transition
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

42. Anticipating and meeting new multilevel governance challenges in Northern Ireland after Brexit

Author:
Katy Hayward
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This report shares results from an 18-month long project which considered the democratic implications of the Protocol on Northern Ireland/Ireland contained in the Withdrawal Agreement at every level of government: within Northern Ireland, within the UK, north-south on the island of Ireland, British-Irish, and now UK-EU. The authors lay out 80 recommendations as to what measures can be taken in order to ensure that Northern Ireland’s interests can be protected and heard in the new post-Brexit landscape.
Topic:
Governance, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Ireland, and Northern Ireland

43. PROPERTY AND SOVEREIGNTY: Creating, Destroying, and Resurrecting Property Rights in British India (1600-1800)

Author:
Namita Wahi
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
This paper, the first in a series of three papers, constitutes the first systematic legal attempt since the late nineteenth century to describe the changing configuration of property rights of zamindars (landlords) and ryots or raiyats (peasants) relative to the English East India Company in colonial India over a period of two hundred years from 1600 to 1800. This period begins with the Company’s first arrival in India to the court of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in 1600 as merely a trading company. It ends with the introduction of the Permanent Settlement in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis, the Governor General of Bengal in 1793, pursuant to the Company’s exercise of sovereign authority over the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. As described in the paper, during this period of great political upheaval, scandal, and intrigue, as the East India Company gradually transitioned from a monopoly trading company to a conquering and then an administering power, Company officials, including the Governor General, and later the Supreme Council of Bengal, created, destroyed, and resurrected property rights of landlords and tenant cultivators. Following a series of experiments with land revenue administration and the lives of zamindars and raiyats, with the sole objective of maximising revenue for the East India Company, Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement of Land Revenue in 1793, which completely destroyed the rights of peasant cultivators in favour of zamindars, and wreaked great injustice and misery upon the people of Bengal. It would take nearly seventy years for British government to begin to reverse this injustice through tenancy protection legislation enacted in 1859, and this reversal in law would only be completed following land reforms introduced by provincial governments post India’s independence in 1947. These later developments will be the subject of the next two papers in this series.
Topic:
Sovereignty, History, Governance, and Property
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, South Asia, and India

44. Power down to level up: resilient place-shaping for a post-Covid age

Author:
Andrew Walker and Patrick Diamond
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
It has become commonplace in 2020 to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on severe problems and iniquities in the delivery of local services. But it is true. It is also true returning to pre-Covid “normality” is not an option, nor is it really desirable. Crisis issues in council finances, social care, children’s services, housing, homelessness, high streets and local growth, did not spring up overnight. LGIU and others have been shouting about these things for years and trying to get decision makers to pay proper attention. We understand that this is challenging. There are no easy solutions. Tackling the problems will involve choices and trade-offs. But that is politics. If we don’t take this opportunity to empower communities, so that they can flourish in the future, then when will we? At present, central government is concerned with issues of council structure and is pursuing a strategy of reorganisation that will reflect central government priorities, not those of local communities. This is a distraction from the important, longstanding problems that the government has so far refused to engage with: a finance settlement for local government; the crisis in adult social care and children’s services; and the unanswered problems of English devolution. At its root, this is a longstanding crisis of governance. The UK, remarkably centralised in comparison with similar economies around the world, has a moribund system of governance. Its outdated and inadequate constitutional framework, which wouldn’t be (and isn’t) looked upon as a model worth following elsewhere, is supported by a set of assumptions, ideas and beliefs that dominate in national political discourse. These hold that Whitehall knows best. Ministers hand down decisions that must be delivered across a varied and diverse geography by local authorities, regardless of local circumstances, assets, or democratic support. This is blind to the importance of place and it should be reversed. In this paper we show how local councils have already demonstrated their capacity for effective place-based It has become commonplace in 2020 to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on severe problems and iniquities in the delivery of local services. But it is true. It is also true returning to pre-Covid “normality” is not an option, nor is it really desirable. Crisis issues in council finances, social care, children’s services, housing, homelessness, high streets and local growth, did not spring up overnight. LGIU and others have been shouting about these things for years and trying to get decision makers to pay proper attention. We understand that this is challenging. There are no easy solutions. Tackling the problems will involve choices and trade-offs. But that is politics. If we don’t take this opportunity to empower communities, so that they can flourish in the future, then when will we? At present, central government is concerned with issues of council structure and is pursuing a strategy of reorganisation that will reflect central government priorities, not those of local communities. This is a distraction from the important, longstanding problems that the government has so far refused to engage with: a finance settlement for local government; the crisis in adult social care and children’s services; and the unanswered problems of English devolution. At its root, this is a longstanding crisis of governance. The UK, remarkably centralised in comparison with similar economies around the world, has a moribund system of governance. Its outdated and inadequate constitutional framework, which wouldn’t be (and isn’t) looked upon as a model worth following elsewhere, is supported by a set of assumptions, ideas and beliefs that dominate in national political discourse. These hold that Whitehall knows best. Ministers hand down decisions that must be delivered across a varied and diverse geography by local authorities, regardless of local circumstances, assets, or democratic support. This is blind to the importance of place and it should be reversed. In this paper we show how local councils have already demonstrated their capacity for effective place-based leadership, without input from Westminster. This is despite decades of chipping away at their power and institutional resilience by central government., without input from Westminster. This is despite decades of chipping away at their power and institutional resilience by central government.
Topic:
Governance, Local, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

45. Corruption and the British State

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Is the British state corrupt? The UK has traditionally scored well in global anti-corruption rankings, but concerns about corruption, cronyism, and the conduct of elections have become increasingly prominent in public debate.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Governance, and Leadership
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

46. Global Health Security and Pandemics: How the UK Parliament has adapted to COVID-19

Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Dr Daniel Gover (Lecturer in British Politics, Queen Mary University of London) discusses COVID-19 and the challenges that it has presented for the UK Parliament. He discusses how both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have adapted to the crisis and offers his thoughts on which reformed elements may continue to be used in the future.
Topic:
Governance, Legislation, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

47. Global Health Security and Pandemics: The UK Government Response to COVID-19

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n this video, Dr. Jonathan Kennedy (Queen Mary University of London) discusses the response of the UK Government to the Coronavirus pandemic and what lessons can be learned from other nations, such as China and Italy.
Topic:
Security, Health, Governance, Leadership, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

48. Five Things the Health Minister Should Do to Enhance the UK’s Global Health Footprint

Author:
Kalipso Chalkidou
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As Health Secretary Matt Hancock returns to his role as part of Boris Johnson’s premiership, he has an opportunity to make good on the UK’s renewed confidence and ambition by drawing on what the new prime minister calls the “best healthcare [system]” to drive improvements in health globally. The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care controls its biggest-ever official development assistance (ODA) budget, doubling between 2017 and 2018 to just under £200m, or 1.3 percent of the country’s aid allocation. This places the UK’s secretary of state for health in a unique position to truly make a difference in countries’ journeys towards universal healthcare coverage (UHC), whilst also defending (and making a case for more of) the ODA money his department has been allocated, even to development aid’s harshest critics. Here are five things he can do to make this happen, both using his own department’s ODA budget and influencing how DFID’s majority share is spent.
Topic:
Health, Governance, Health Care Policy, and Leadership
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

49. What is ‘Corbynomics’? The Emerging Political Economy of the British Left

Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour Party promising a break with a ‘neoliberal consensus’ that, his supporters argue, has dominated Britain for the past forty years. Even though Labour’s Corbynite turn demonstrated an endurance and electoral potency unanticipated by many mainstream commentators before the 2017 General Election, the agenda of a prospective Labour government remains under explored. In contrast, within the Left itself there have been urgent debates on the ideal policies of a socialist government and the best strategies to replace ‘neoliberalism’. Left-wing writers and think-tankers now discuss proposals like the ‘Preston Model’ and a ‘Green New Deal’ with increasing confidence and excitement. At this event, we will hear from some key figures in the development of the new economic thinking pursued by the Labour leadership. This panel will introduce the emerging political economic settlement, dubbed ‘Corbynomics’ by the Economist, and interrogate its ideas, strategies and prospects.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

50. Who represents London? Ethnicity, Gender, and Party in Local Government

Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
London's local government has served as a locus for ethnic minority political engagement for decades. The local arena was an important site for black and Asian political activity during the 1960s and 70s when much of the responsibility for tackling racism was passed to local government. When the first three black MPs entered the House of Commons in 1987, they had all served as local councillors beforehand. To this day, local office continues to be a gateway into national office for ethnic minorities. Despite this, very little is known about how representative local councillors are of London's population. A new study by Queen Mary alumna Mercy Muroki and academic Prof. Philip Cowley reports local black and Asian representation across London for the first time in over 20 years. The study shows that, despite some advances, black and Asian Londoners continue to be underrepresented in most boroughs. Black men, in particular, see the poorest levels of representation whilst Asian men see the best levels. The study also found huge disparities between representation amongst Conservative and Labour councillors.
Topic:
Governance, Ethnicity, Urban, Local, Political Parties, and Gender
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe