2026 Budget
Britain’s economic prosperity is often presented through national statistics, such as GDP growth, employment rates and average wages. However these mere figures can conceal a fundamentally institutional problem: the uneven distribution of investment, infrastructure and economic opportunities available across the country. The stark contrast between London and many other
2026 Budget
On Wednesday 28 October 2026, Chancellor John Healey will present the UK's Autumn Budget, outlining plans for taxation, public spending and economic growth. Amid tight public finances, rising government borrowing costs, with UK 10-year gilt yields at their highest since 2007, and the need to fund deteriorating
Francis Fukuyama took the political science world by storm in his 1989 essay ‘The End of History?’. Amidst the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, he celebrated the triumph of capitalism, liberalism, and democracy over communism, authoritarianism, and tyranny. And in Fukuyama’s view, this triumph was for good; a
The Perspective
Imagine walking down a path...surrounded by the twitter of birds starting their day, hidden amongst the vegetation, ambling towards a bay where warm sands run alongside a river towards crystal-clear water. A path that has been walked by your family for generations. Now imagine waking up one day
Explainers
Imagine two children, same name, same gender, born in the same city on the exact same day. Do they have the same chance of success in life, or did one of them already win or lose the lottery of success from the day they were born? Both these perspectives can
Explainers
An exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in terms of another. For example, if the exchange rate between the British pound and the US dollar is £1 = $1.25, exchanging £100 would give you $125. Exchange rates are important because they determine how much it costs to
We spend millions of pounds telling young girls that they can grow up to change the world, become world leaders and shatter glass ceilings. What we don’t say, however, is that the moment they step into the political arena, they will need to brace themselves for a relentless digital
The Perspective
The ‘summer slide’ is an educational term used to describe the loss of knowledge over the summer holidays when a child doesn’t (or can’t) revisit what they have learnt during the school year. Although it is a lesser-known phenomenon, the summer slide has the potential to significantly
Ideas Lab
Writer’s note: this piece discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. In October 2024, a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by seven students at a Cornell University fraternity house. Almost two years later, in September 2026, she filed a civil lawsuit against the men, the
Female perspectives on economics, politics and global affairs
Power lies at the very heart of international politics. Power is typically defined as ‘the ability of X to make Y do something they would not otherwise do’. Power dictates how nations interact, how easy it is to resolve disputes, and how they operate within the global order. As international
Picture a house. In the UK, a house is far more than just a form of shelter - it’s an asset. As long as you can prove ownership, you can sell it, rent it out, or use it as collateral for a loan. This is made possible by secure property
Picture your perfect house. It might have a nice front porch with a swing, or maybe a beautiful garden full of sunflowers, or perhaps cathedral ceilings with a gorgeous diamond chandelier swinging from the center. If that’s not your style, maybe you’re looking for something more modern, edgy
When Forbes began tracking wealth in 1987, they identified approximately 140 billionaires globally; under 40 years later, this number has increased by over 1,000%, now sitting at 3,428. It is undeniable that wealth inequality is increasing rapidly in our society, but is the growing prevalence of billionaires an
Could you picture yourself living in a society where actions are deemed morally acceptable depending on how much happiness they cause? What if this became a principle used in government? Utilitarianism, as described by its founder Jeremy Bentham, is the philosophy of maximising overall happiness whilst minimising overall pain. This
Warning: contains reports of sexual violence and rape that some readers may find distressing On the 15th of October 2017, Alyssa Milano, at the recommendation of a friend and in response to Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults, posted a now infamous tweet: “If you’ve been sexually
The UN has voted to replace the Mercator projection with the Equal Earth projection. So what does this mean? And why does it matter? The Mercator map has been in use for centuries [1]. Created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, the map was designed to help European sailors
More than ever now, in 2026, Formula 1 is walking a fine line between its genuine ESG commitments - including gender diversity - and its lucrative corporate alignment with authoritarian state capitals. On the one hand, the sport actively promotes gender diversity as a core corporate value. Meanwhile the sport simultaneously accepts
Reports from media outlets illustrate that the UK has approximately 40-42 days of emergency diesel reserves, which is one of the lowest in Europe. The price of diesel has rocketed up to £2 per litre for the first time in British history, leading to the average family's
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has put electoral reform back on the political agenda, announcing a national commission on the issue and promising that Labour will fight the next election committed to changing Britain’s voting system so that “everyone’s vote counts”. At the centre of the debate is First
This week's Agora Explainer will focus on the leaders of the main political parties in England. Firstly, what is a political party? Good question. A political party is an organisation which involves a group of people who share similar ideas about how a country should be run. People
While we often see climate change as an environmental issue, it is rapidly becoming a modern medical crisis. In hot weather, pathogens thrive and mosquitoes have a greater chance of spreading them to humans, causing an increase in vector-borne diseases like malaria. To protect public health, the next generation
