Opinion Articles
H&P encourages historians to use their expertise to shed light on issues of the day. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece for publication, please see our editorial guidelines. We currently have 342 Opinion Articles listed by date and they are all freely searchable by theme, author or keyword.
‘Not afforded any dignity or humanity’: the children’s hospitals England has not examined
Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, the authorities in England and Wales have never carried out a thorough historical inquiry into the standard of care for children and young people with long-term healthcare needs. Helen Parker-Drabble argues that this is long overdue.
Read MoreReputation, Trust and Misinformation: Parallels with the Premodern?
The threat posed by misinformation is an increasing cause for concern in contemporary society. But fifteenth-century records of London Consistory Court serve as a reminder that people have long sought redress for the reputational harm caused by misleading information. These historical parallels point to the need for mechanisms through which individuals and organisations can protect themselves from reputational damage.
Read More‘Children couldn’t have been treated like that.’ But we were. What a Survivor of Childhood Tuberculosis Can Teach Today’s Policymakers
Drawing on the experiences of her father, Harry Drabble, a survivor of childhood bovine tuberculosis, Helen Parker-Drabble argues that the long-term psychological and developmental impact of prolonged hospitalisation in childhood is a neglected aspect of today’s policy discussions.
Read MoreThe long history of debates about gun control
The tragic shootings at Bondi Beach and Brown University have put questions of gun control back in the spotlight. These debates are almost as old as guns themselves and they point to the extent to which cultural attitudes to firearms are deeply embedded.
Read MoreConservatism and Unionism in the UK
The team of historians behind an AHRC-funded research project reflect on the fracturing of Conservatism and Unionism in the the UK in the final third of the twentieth century, and the insights into that process provided by a witness seminar hosted by History & Policy in June 2025.
Read MoreThe tragedy of the repeated history in Britain of austerity causing mortality
There has been much discussion over the impact since 2010 of austerity and in particular the two-child limit on child poverty and health. Historians have now measured the health effects of the first Westminster-imposed austerity programme of severe cuts to child allowances. This was when the New Poor Law of the workhouse was launched in 1834. The impact on child mortality is revealed and it is shocking.
Read MoreAt a time of crisis for the profession, a unique collection of interviews demonstrates the importance of history.
At a time of crisis for the History departments across the UK, the Institute of Historical Research has made available a unique archive of interviews with some of the profession’s leading post-war British scholars. Their reflections provide valuable evidence for importance of the discipline and the urgent need not only to defend it but to disseminate its values across society.
Read MoreHow We View Old Age in the Present through the Language of the Past
In stoking panic about an aging population, public figures such as Elon Musk are applying not just the concerns but the language of the past to an era in which they are increasingly obsolete. We need, argues Tom Heritage, a new language to take account of the current realities, one that breaks loose from the historical categorization of old age as a ‘social problem’.
Read MoreSquaring the Circle? Welfare shake-up delivers devastating impact on care leavers.
Annie Skinner warns that measures announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ March 2025 budget discriminate against young people leaving the care system, compounding a long history in which they have been stigmatized and poorly supported by the state.
Read MoreWelfare and Warfare: An Entangled History
The British government’s recent commitment to raising defence spending as a proportion of the budget, alongside plans to cut spending on welfare, has led to considerable debate over the shift from welfare to warfare. Yet as Jessica Meyer argues, the history of the twentieth century suggests that warfare and welfare are intertwined and effective welfare provision will remain necessary for the successful administration of a policy based around the new priorities.
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