Ten years after the referendum, Britain is poorer, less influential, and less connected than it might have been. The time has come to make the case for re-joining the European Union. A night I will never forget Ten years ago this morning Britain awoke to a changed political landscape and a weakened place in the… Continue reading Ten years after the Brexit vote, the UK’s future belongs back in Europe
Category: Global Politics
Pride matters more than ever
Every year, around this time, somebody asks whether Pride is still necessary. It is a question that usually comes from one of two places. Sometimes it is asked in good faith by people who look around them and see same-sex marriage, openly LGBTQ+ public figures, rainbow lanyards in workplaces, and Pride flags flying above civic… Continue reading Pride matters more than ever
Kemi Badenoch is wrong about the Public Sector Equality Duty
There are many legitimate debates to be had about how government works. How much regulation is too much? How should public services balance competing demands? When does process become bureaucracy? These are all fair questions. What is not a serious contribution to that debate is Kemi Badenoch’s latest attack on the Public Sector Equality Duty… Continue reading Kemi Badenoch is wrong about the Public Sector Equality Duty
Fear, Fracture, and the Future of Britain
There are moments in politics when an election result is more than an electoral event. It becomes a warning light. This week’s local election results across England, alongside contests in Scotland and Wales, feel like one of those moments. Not because voters should somehow be criticised for expressing frustration. Democracy means precisely that citizens are… Continue reading Fear, Fracture, and the Future of Britain
Protecting women’s sport: a line drawn too bluntly – my message to the IOC President
Sport must safeguard participants and ensure equity and fairness, but this must be done based on science and fact and not as a kneejerk reaction to political or cultural pressure. Today I have written to Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee, whom I deeply admire and whose election I celebrated just over a… Continue reading Protecting women’s sport: a line drawn too bluntly – my message to the IOC President
Stop the War: The case for law, restraint and independent British leadership
Last Saturday, I wrote a piece titled War Is Not Liberation: A Plea for Restraint, Law and the Protection of Civilians. In it I argued that military escalation in the Middle East risked inflicting terrible harm on ordinary people while undermining the framework of international law that exists to restrain the use of force. Sadly,… Continue reading Stop the War: The case for law, restraint and independent British leadership
War is not liberation: a plea for restraint, law, and the protection of civilians
The past hours have brought deeply alarming news of military strikes by the United States and Israel against targets inside Iran, followed by retaliatory missile attacks by Iran across the region. The speed with which this escalation has unfolded is frightening. The human consequences, as always, are borne not by political leaders but by ordinary… Continue reading War is not liberation: a plea for restraint, law, and the protection of civilians
Living in truth: Middle Powers must lead, and Britain, with Canada and the EU, should be with them
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Canadian Premier Mark Carney delivered one of the most important speeches of this decade. It deserves to be read not as a Canadian intervention alone, but as a blueprint for every serious democracy that refuses to drift into vassalage in a world of unrestrained power politics. Carney named… Continue reading Living in truth: Middle Powers must lead, and Britain, with Canada and the EU, should be with them
Trump’s America is no longer the Land of the Free
Trump’s authoritarian populism risks turning the U.S. into a fascist state which is why I no longer feel safe to travel there, and why others, including global sport, should question their own plans. I have long been proud to celebrate the United States as a beacon of democratic pluralism, creativity, and cultural diversity. I have… Continue reading Trump’s America is no longer the Land of the Free
After Bondi: grief, fear, and the hard work of refusing hatred
The attack on Australia’s Jewish community on Bondi Beach in recent days has left me shaken and heartsick. It joins a grim list of assaults on Jewish life across the world, including the attack on the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur earlier this year. These are not isolated acts. They sit within… Continue reading After Bondi: grief, fear, and the hard work of refusing hatred
C. E. Lord OBE 