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Housing White Paper: affordability problem will not change, says OU expert

7 February 2017

Lecturer in Economics, Alan Shipman, comments on the Government’s Housing White Paper, published on Tuesday 7 February 2017: Earnings have risen too slowly “The Housing White Paper pinpoints the main problem – that average house prices have risen to eight times earnings, this ratio doubling in some areas since 1997 – then addresses the wrong […]

Bercow should see and speak only as directed by MPs: New Speaker of the House of Commons needed, says OU expert

7 February 2017

Reader in Government, Richard Heffernan, argues that John Bercow has overstepped the mark with his comments on Donald Trump. Highly political and too public a speakership “First elected as a Conservative MP in 1997, being reelected as such in 2001 and 2005, John Bercow becoming Speaker in 2009, ceased being a Conservative. It has long […]

Religious literary report receives OU input in Parliament

3 February 2017

The importance of religious literacy in a post-Brexit world was the topic of an All Party Parliamentary Group debate recently, with contributions from The Open University. As the Brexit debate continued to draw heated exchanges in the Commons chamber on Tuesday 31 January, John Wolffe (Professor of Religious History and Associate Dean for Research Scholarship […]

Obama’s Iran legacy is noble, complicated – and endangered

11 January 2017

When Barack Obama became US president, his principal foreign policy was clear: to maintain the US’s global leadership role while simultaneously scaling back on the interventionist excesses of George W. Bush. And few issues pulled those priorities together as neatly as did the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. Iranian-Western relations had nosedived during the younger […]

UK House Price Outlook: The long rise stutters, but not because of policy

30 December 2016

Lecturer in Economics, Alan Shipman, discusses the delicate balancing act the government has to perform and why a new social divide may be emerging. After another rise of more than 8% in 2016, UK house prices set for flatter – and bumpier – terrain in 2017-20. The likely levelling is mainly caused not by government […]

Poet welcomes Open University’s Human Rights Week focus

5 December 2016

In a one-off series marking Human Rights Day, OU academics focus on key elements of the historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights and explore its relevance in a 21st century light. Poet and OU Honorary Graduate Benjamin Zephaniah, a passionate supporter of human rights, introduces each theme as they lead up to Human Rights Day on 10 December. He […]

Is climate change the ‘kale smoothie’ of TV schedules?

1 December 2016

Covering climate change today in a meaningful and engaging way is increasingly challenging, reveal TV producers, in a new report by the OU’s Professor Joe Smith. He reflects that covering climate change seems akin to a kale smoothie – something which can be unappealing yet somehow fashionable and essential. Amid continuing news stories on the […]

Autumn Statement 2016: Tories shift to growth strategy in an Ed Balls-style pirouette

23 November 2016

Needing to perform a fiscal twist in a confined space, it looks like Philip Hammond has borrowed some dance steps from former shadow chancellor Ed Balls. Despite some mockery of his recent turns on TV show Strictly Come Dancing, Balls’ footprints are clearly visible on the spending boost the chancellor unveiled in his first Autumn […]

Prison violence is not about staffing: they’ve always been dangerous for prisoners

18 November 2016

In an attempt to force the hand of the government in negotiations regarding the numbers of prison officers employed in public sector prisons, more than 10,000 prison officers have taken part in a 24-hour “protest action”. It is illegal for prison officers to strike, but officers stopped work at midnight on November 15. Prisons went […]

Trump and the triumph of hopeful nihilism

9 November 2016

For many US voters, the election of President Donald Trump is a worrying step backwards. But for many others, his rise to power is an exciting opportunity for national renewal. This division reflects the emergence of a new 21st-century politics – one waged between genuine cynics and hopeful nihilists. The former think the system is unchangeable […]

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Category: Society and politics