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.
Debating the ‘good death’: a long view
‘Death had a thousand doors with which to let out life’ in Britain before the twentieth century. It was ubiquitous and immediate, taking place in the presence of family, friends and neighbours; and patterns for handling it impressed themselves on generations around the deathbed. Although the semi-public ritual of dying varied down the centuries, especially […]
Read MoreNo glass ceiling for female officers
'We need the best and the brightest talent in senior positions', said Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, in response to the promotion of Elaine West to air vice marshal. She is the first woman in the Royal Air Force (RAF) to attain 2-star rank. 'There are no glass ceilings for female officers', Hammond said. If that […]
Read MoreWhy Thatcher’s attempt to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics failed
In 1980 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government attempted to use a specific form of 'soft power': it sought a British boycott of the forthcoming Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that had taken place in late 1979. This allied the government to the United States under President Jimmy Carter, which also supported […]
Read MoreThe Strasbourg court is anti-democratic, just as its founders intended
In the recent uproar over the European Court of Human Right's interference in the British criminal justice system, Tories have to confront an inconvenient truth: they have no one to blame but themselves. Rather than directing their fury at foreign judges, Conservative Party leaders should be cursing their haloed predecessors. In the late 1940s, Tory […]
Read MoreMr Gove’s new history curriculum: top marks or could do better?
The key question that needs to be asked about the 'final' version of Michael Gove's history curriculum, published on 8 July, is whether it is better than what it replaces? The Coalition Government arrived in May 2010 with Michael Gove confidently promising that he could deliver a better history curriculum, but has he? The new […]
Read More‘Little grape’ and the ‘right to reign’
There are plenty of reasons to treat the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which ends the policy of male primogeniture in royal succession, with a healthy dose of scepticism. The Act was clearly green-lighted to save the British government the embarrassment of denying the throne to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's 'little grape,' […]
Read MoreIs Ed Miliband taking political funding back to 1927?
The funding of political parties has been hugely contentious for centuries – from the days of the pre-reformed Parliaments with their tiny franchises and ‘rotten boroughs’ in the gift of the aristocracy and nobility. Yet the funding of the reformed Parliament parties after 1832, Whig/Liberal and Conservative/Unionist, by the railway companies and other industrial and […]
Read MoreBritain in Palestine: time to apologise?
The Palestinian Return Centre [PRC] in London is campaigning for an apology from the British Government for British colonial rule in Palestine, from 1917 to 1948. Those behind this campaign will have been galvanised by the Government's recent expression of regret for colonial abuses committed in Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion. The call for […]
Read MoreBaby George is named, but beware the christening
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have successfully negotiated the politics of naming their new baby son, with George attracting widespread approval. But perhaps they should beware the christening. At the christening of his second son, George, in 1717, and following a dispute with his father about naming the baby, the Prince of Wales (later […]
Read MoreConservative splits: lessons from history?
In the last few months, the news agenda has focussed on the growing splits within the Conservative Party. First, pressure came from the right of the party over Europe, forcing David Cameron to promise a referendum on Britain's continuing EU membership after the next General Election, which alienated the Europhile left of his party. Then […]
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