Opinion

So What’s the Problem With Peter Singer?

Lucy Burke

The work of utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer contributes to a culture in which the value of disabled peoples’ lives is viewed as a matter for debate rather than a given. A failure to recognise this reflects a broader failure to engage meaningfully with disability activism, writes Lucy Burke.

Disability Politics Are Anticapitalist Politics

Ellen Clifford

Impairments aren’t what make us disabled, our profit-driven society is, writes disabled activist Ellen Clifford.

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Vaccine Passports Are Still an Awful Idea

James Meadway

With coronavirus cases rising, the government could still introduce vaccine passports in England - a decision that comes with major implications for our privacy and freedom, writes James Meadway.

Union Jacks and Churchill Quotes Won’t Save Insulate Britain

Blyth Brentnall

Insulate Britain's comms strategy aims to enter "the Right’s side of the culture war". But nationalist parochialism will alienate many social housing residents while doing little to blunt the anger of motorists, argues Blyth Brentnall.

Cop26 Is Little More Than a Cop-out

Ell Folan

World leaders have once again gathered at COP and promised action. But they’ll go home and do virtually nothing. These climate gatherings aren’t fit for purpose - and won’t be until politicians start taking responsibility instead of shifting the blame.

Bogus ‘Nature Based Solutions’ Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis

Kirtana Chandrasekaran

'Nature-based solutions’ to the climate crisis are the talk of the town at Cop26. But while they’re an intoxicating idea, they’re really a wolf in sheep’s clothing, argues Kirtana Chandrasekaran.

The Tories’ New ‘Community-Powered’ Plan Is a Cynical Power Grab

Bertie Russell, Keir Milburn & Kai Heron

The Tories' recent proposal for a new era of 'community-powered Conservativism' is an audacious, though ultimately hollow, bid to park tanks on the left's lawn.

Who Should Pay Up for Climate Carnage?

Harpreet Kaur Paul

Unprecedented storms and floods are ripping across the Global South. Many at COP26 are calling for rich countries to pay for the damage, writes Harpreet Kaur Paul.

Austerity May Be Over, but the Tories Still Aren’t Spending Enough

James Meadway

With this year's budget, the Tories may have ended austerity, but the spending increases they are proposing aren't nearly enough to undo the damage they have wrought through a decade of brutal cuts.

Rachel Reeves is Wrong – This is Exactly the Right Time to Take Energy Into Public Ownership

Ell Folan

With fuel bills rising and a freezing winter ahead, our energy network is clearly broken. The answer is clear, argues Ell Folan – the state should step in and sort it out.

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The Government’s Net Zero Strategy Is Beyond Disappointing

James Meadway

Unless the Treasury’s attitude towards borrowing changes, the government's decarbonisation strategy is futile, writes James Meadway.

The Supply Chain Crisis Is Exposing Tory Divisions

James Meadway

Recent public spats over how to manage the ongoing supply chain crisis speak to far deeper ideological conflicts within the Tory government, argues James Meadway.

The Green Transition is Already Underway – And It’s Not Looking Pretty

If climate campaigners continue to focus on the UK’s emissions gap, we'll miss the bigger picture. The green transition is already happening – and it’s shaping up to be a nightmare, argues Nicholas Beuret.

Blaming David Amess’ Murder on Social Media Is a Way of Avoiding the Knottier Problems

Ash Sarkar

We don’t yet know what role, if any, social media played in the murder of MP Sir David Amess. But blaming it on that is at best premature, and, at worst, a complete derailment from addressing the trickier root causes.