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.
Will Thatcher’s historical legacy, like Robert Peel’s, U-turn from beyond the grave?
Since her death on 8 April, Margaret Thatcher’s legacy has been described by commentators in many ways. Some saw her as rolling back the socialist state, others as a believer in strong executive government and economic freedom. Electorally, she was the most successful Conservative leader, taking her party to three consecutive General Election victories, but […]
Read More‘Something should be done’: campaigns for choice and human rights in childbirth
Two recently published reports have again put the spotlight on Britain's overstretched maternity services. The National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) and National Childbirth Trust (NCT) researched the experiences of 5,500 women, concluding that choice of place of birth remained 'an aspiration, not a reality' and painting a picture of 'fragmented' antenatal care and lack […]
Read MoreCoalition governments: ‘always unpopular and seldom lasted long’?
In recent British history, six coalition governments have involved Liberal and Conservative parties. The only other peace-time coalition endorsed by two united parties was the 1895-1906 coalition of the Liberal Unionist and Conservative parties, when four senior Liberal Unionists were given Cabinet posts in Lord Salisbury's government after the collapse of Lord Rosebery's government and […]
Read MoreMargaret Thatcher and the Cold War
Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979 with an agenda focused primarily on reforming Britain's economy. She lacked any significant foreign policy experience and entrusted the post of Foreign Secretary to Lord Carrington, a hereditary peer who had served under every Conservative Prime Minister since Churchill. It was the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands […]
Read MoreMargaret Thatcher, individualism and the welfare state
There is a pervasive idea that Margaret Thatcher brought about an increase in individualism in British society; in the eyes of many on the left, a selfish, materialistic individualism. She is often seen as ushering in the era of the yuppie and 'loadsamoney', epitomised by Harry Enfield. In an article written for The Guardian in […]
Read MoreThe Peace of Utrecht: why Britain is forgetting to remember
Three hundred years ago, a peace treaty was signed that ended nearly a quarter of a century of continuous warfare, acknowledged Britain’s status as a major power and cemented the post-1688 balanced constitution that we retain today. The Peace of Utrecht will be marked with events throughout Europe, but not so here. This is a […]
Read MoreReagan vs. Thatcher: unpicking the special relationship
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan first won general elections in 1979 and 1980 respectively. Each came to power riding a wave of fear of domestic and international decline. They saw their international interests converge as the Cold War reheated, and both promised to implement parallel monetarist, free market, and incentive-based economic policies. Having met in […]
Read MoreThe spirit of ‘45
As the government ploughs ahead with its welfare reforms, debates over tax, spending and welfare dominate parliamentary discourse. It is timely, then, that acclaimed film director Ken Loach has just released an incendiary piece, The Spirit of '45. A polemical defence of the post-war welfare state, the film documents the programme of nationalisation undertaken by […]
Read MoreIs modern childhood over too soon?
Netmums, the popular parenting website, recently asked 1,000 parents if they thought their children were growing up too quickly in twenty-first century Britain. In the survey, two thirds of respondents felt that childhood was over by the age of 12, as 'modern children are under much greater pressure and grow up far faster than previous […]
Read MoreBack to the past for the school history curriculum?
Michael Gove's explicit intention has been to 'slim down' the national curriculum. His new history curriculum has clearly 'slimmed' the scope of the curriculum, not the content in it. School history (apart from a cursory glance at Ancient Greece and the Russian, French and American revolutions) will be about one state only: Britain. Although the […]
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