3 d. ago NatWest changes its policy over investing in oil and gas companies

Changing its language around what it can invest in raises serious questions over the bank’s formerly-pioneering green policy, campaigners say

Events

6 d. ago Trump’s political bullying of Harvard will do nothing to foster diversity of thought | Kenan Malik

Substituting liberal biases with conservative will only serve to subvert academic objectivityFew people want to live in an echo chamber. Many have no problem being friends with those who vote differently to the way they do. And many would probably agree with John Stuart Mill that “he who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that” – that to truly know one’s own argument, one must also know the arguments of those who disagree.How to create a culture that encourages more fruitful engagement between those of differing political views has become a key question in contemporary public debate. Nowhere more so than in universities, where there has been much debate about “viewpoint diversity”, the aspiration to nurture differing and conflicting perspectives within an institution or group as a means of sharpening arguments and teasing out truths. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Scientists warn rising heat could cause more mental health disorders

High temperatures are already worsening mental health, from anxiety to schizophrenia

Events

1 week ago Voices: Who’s to blame for Birmingham’s bin crisis? Join The Independent Debate

Birmingham’s bin strike has sparked a heated public debate over workers’ rights, public health, and the future of essential services – so where do you stand?

Events

1 week ago Terrifying new theory of what's behind Tic Tac UFOs that keep rising from ocean in front of US Navy sailors

Jeremy Corbell, a journalist known for his work on military UAP cases, has reignited public debate over UFOs with newly released footage captured aboard the USS Jackson in 2023.

Events

2 w. ago DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Public sector malaise must be put to bed

Sir Jim Mackey's mid-afternoon snoozeathon is embarrassing for him and for the NHS he helps to lead.

Politics

3 w. ago ‘A case study in groupthink’: were liberals wrong about the pandemic?

US political scientists’ book argues aggressive Covid policies such as mask mandates were in some cases misguidedWere conservatives right to question Covid lockdowns? Were the liberals who defended them less grounded in science than they believed? And did liberal dismissiveness of the other side come at a cost that Americans will continue to pay for many years?A new book by two political scientists argues yes to all three questions, making the case that the aggressive policies that the US and other countries adopted to fight Covid – including school shutdowns, business closures, mask mandates and social distancing – were in some cases misguided and in many cases deserved more rigorous public debate. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Voices: Is the NHS in crisis? Join The Independent Debate as public satisfaction hits record low

A ‘startling collapse’ in public satisfaction with the NHS has left many questioning what needs to change. Have your say below...

Events

3 w. ago The financial markets no longer believe in Donald Trump’s ‘stable genius’

Editorial: The president’s obsession with tariffs risks a repeat of the mistakes of the 1930s – and on ‘Liberation Day’, the world may pay a heavy price

Politics

4 w. ago What is ‘abundance’ liberalism, and why are people arguing about it?

A new book has sparked debate with its provocative claim that progressive public policy in the US is brokenIs progressive public policy in America broken? Do many left-leaning laws actually make life more expensive for struggling people? Is regulatory red tape hindering growth and innovation? Have Democratic-run cities, such as New York and San Francisco, become giant billboards against liberal governance?These arguments wouldn’t sound out of place in a policy paper from a conservative thinktank. Yet their newest champions are two of America’s best-known left-leaning journalists, the New York Times’ Ezra Klein and the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson – and they believe the left is overdue for a reckoning of sorts. Continue reading...

Politics