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.
The British government's scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has been widely critised. But an element that has attracted surprisingly little attention is the Commonwealth context of the plan. Having only recently urged Rwanda to improve its human rights record in line with the Commonwealth Charter, the Johnson administration is now citing the fact that Rwanda is about to host the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as evidence that the country is a safe destination for deportees.
A much anticipated independent review published on the Windrush scandal last week found that the Home Office was still failing to learn properly from its past mistakes. This article argues that the government needs to overcome its selective amnesia and not only learn from but apologise for its treatment of the victims of the scandal and engage in a genuine process of reconciliation.
Although the invasion of Ukraine will evoke memories of the suffering imposed on its people by the regime of Joseph Stalin, in an age of smartphones Vladimir Putin lacks Stalin's ability to control the flow of information. Members of the Russian military know they are likely to be held to account, and that their actions in Ukraine will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
The Government may succeed in 'taking back control'. But its ability to combine this with a new economic model of high real wages and improved productivity, heralded in the Prime Minister's speech to the Conservative Party Conference last week, appears more doubtful.
Forged in crisis, Ulster unionism has been suspicious of British governments for more than a century. How the Johnson government responds to the recent unrest will help to determine what Loyalist leaders do next.
Current debates about cronyism and 'Chumocracy' suggest the world of the Reformation and Enlightenment - the Tudors and Stuarts - is more familiar than it might superficially appear.
An appropriate response to the government's recent updated guidance on the flying of the Union Jack would be for all of us to take control of the flag and not allow any political faction to set the agenda on its meaning and uses.
The UK cultural sector’s experience of being cut off from continental Europe in terms of business opportunities and creative work as a result of Brexit, echoes discussions that took place in the 1930s.
Recent history involving the use and management of covert intervention is highly relevant to current debates around defence and security.
Bernard Harris explores the perceived decline in mutual social obligation and civic bonds in the UK and suggests that, real or not, it may have shaped Covid-19 response planning. Perceptions of history can affect calculations where lives hang in the balance.
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