John Swinney

Posted on 06 Jun 2018 Categories: Related Tags:

The IPCC report and beyond: Talking Points on the state of our planet

August is often dubbed the silly season, but this one has been packed with momentous events: the publication of the latest IPCC report, the chaotic exit from Afghanistan, and... Read More

Talking Points reflects on our post-pandemic future

What does the experience of Euro 2020 and its aftermath tell us about the state of England today, and about the outlook of the younger generation as we emerge,... Read More

Talking Points reflects on the 2021 local elections

The results of May’s 2021 local elections will have dismayed those who care about progressive causes, as showcased in Rethinking Poverty. But can we learn anything from them about... Read More

Talking Points looks at the future of work

As the UK takes further steps towards ending the restrictions of lockdown, April’s Talking Points looks at what the pandemic has meant for the future of work and what... Read More

US stimulus package inspires Talking Points

January and February’s Talking Points focused on poverty and equality and the climate crisis, looking for glimmers of hope and finding not many – at least not in the... Read More

Talking Points: February 2021

February’s Talking Points is inevitably focused on the climate crisis and the crisis of poverty and equality. Following the Chancellor’s budget announcement, what can we hope for? In both... Read More

Talking Points: January 2021

With a new lockdown announced on 4 January and schools closed across the country, 2021 got off to a bad start. By 25 January, Gordon Brown was warning that... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2020

2020 has been a year like no other in living memory, with two months pre-Covid and the rest of the year forming the first part of the post-Covid era.... Read More

Talking Points: November 2020

A recent article by Gordon Brown in the New Statesman bore the title ‘How to save the United Kingdom’ – and he is not alone in painting a bleak... Read More

Talking Points: October 2020

With the UK now facing a second wave of coronavirus and an England-wide lockdown just announced, October’s Talking Points is less focused on recovery and the changing world of... Read More

Talking Points: September 2020

This month’s Talking Points picks up August’s discussions of the changing world of work and the knock-on effects on cities. It also looks at the inexorable rise of poverty... Read More

Talking Points: August 2020

Lockdown has seen huge changes in the world of work – most notably the rise of home working. With the furlough scheme coming to its end and the government... Read More

Talking Points: July 2020

With recovery packages being debated the world over, we stand at a crossroads. This month we start by looking at the widely divergent options we face, and the need... Read More

Talking Points: June 2020

As the UK moves further away from lockdown, the question of recovery comes ever more to the fore. This month we start with the new #BuildBackBetter coalition, launched against... Read More

Talking Points: May 2020

As the UK takes the first faltering steps out of lockdown, the focus is more than ever on the ‘what next?’ question. Will the coronavirus crisis lead to a... Read More

Talking Points: April 2020

Life continues to be dominated by coronavirus. This month’s Talking Points focuses mainly on the all-important question of ‘what next?’ Has the market economy had its day? Will we... Read More

Talking Points: March 2020

Since the last Talking Points went out, our world has been completely turned upside down. The country is in lockdown. Nothing is certain. March Talking Points is inevitably focused... Read More

Talking Points: February 2020

There has been so much bad news on poverty in February that it sadly has to be the top story in this month’s Talking Points. We also offer a... Read More

Talking Points: January 2020

On 23 January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced that the ‘Doomsday Clock’ has moved 20 seconds closer to midnight – the closest it has come to signalling a... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2019

2019 has been a tumultuous year. While poverty and inequality continued their inexorable rise, the climate crisis finally erupted on to the national agenda. At the same time solutions... Read More

Talking Points: November 2019

This month’s Talking Points focuses on the way our economy works: the role of business in society, Wales’s ground-breaking Foundational Economy model, and the primacy of the local, for... Read More

Talking Points: October 2019

This month’s Talking Points looks at a variety of ideas for improving people’s lives – from good architecture to kindness and a newly woven social fabric. We also look... Read More

Talking Points: September 2019

This month’s Talking Points looks at rising poverty and inequality and what can be done about it – from reforming Universal Credit to introducing UBS/UBI, taxing wealth more, and... Read More

Talking Points: July/August 2019

This month’s Talking Points ranges widely from US companies’ new professed purpose of improving our society to a change of direction at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ideas for transforming public... Read More

Talking Points: June 2019

This month’s Talking Points reflects on the causes of inequality and puts forward some suggestions for tackling poverty rather than just more ‘bad news’. We also look at the... Read More

Talking Points: May 2019

A big story this month is the launch of a new review of inequality in the UK, but will it make a difference? Discussion of the four-day (or shorter)... Read More

Talking Points: April 2019

The big development this month is the re-emergence of the Green New Deal in the UK, offering a way forward to address poverty, inequality and climate change. Also this... Read More

Talking Points: March 2019

New economic models feature prominently in this month’s Talking Points. The publication of new reports from NEF and Compass has revived the debate about universal basic income vs universal... Read More

Talking Points: February 2019

Is the zeitgeist changing? While the beginning of February saw a spate of calls for the rich to pay more taxes, the end of the month has seen a... Read More

Talking Points: January 2019

Why is inequality increasing? Because the rich aren’t paying their way A discussion panel at the recent Davos World Economic Forum became a sensation after a Dutch historian took... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2018

Deepening poverty and inequality Gordon Brown provides what seems like a fitting epitaph for the year. ‘I’m seeing poverty I didn’t think I would ever see again in my... Read More

Talking Points: November 2018

The UN report on poverty in the UK … The big event in the area of poverty this month has to be Philip Alston’s damning report on poverty in... Read More

Talking Points: October 2018

March Talking Points featured a heading: ‘A big shift in the economy needed – but where are the ideas?’ In June we asked: ‘Why are there no ideas “lying... Read More

Talking Points: September 2018

Ten years on from the crash and nothing learned Ten years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008, there has been a bevy of articles... Read More

Talking Points: August 2018

The government’s new Civil Society Strategy … August has seen the launch of the government’s new Civil Society Strategy. Civil Society Media quotes Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary: ‘Our... Read More

Talking Points: July 2018

Child poverty is worsening Child poverty is soaring, says NPC chief executive Dan Corry in a recent Guardian article. Resolution Foundation analysis suggests that child poverty has risen from 1.6... Read More

Talking Points: June 2018

Plight of poor people worsening … June has produced plenty of bad news on this front. Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice, a right-wing think-tank, shows that the wages... Read More

Talking Points: May 2018

How can funders help develop the kind of civil society we need? How can funders support development of a civil society that will provide ‘a creative response to everything... Read More

Talking Points: April 2018

Why is wealth inequality soaring? By 2030 the richest 1 per cent will own two-thirds of global wealth. Dominic Frisby offers 10 reasons why this is happening in the... Read More

Talking Points: March 2018

A big shift in the economy needed – but where are the ideas? ‘Reflective Corbynites and thoughtful Conservatives are agreed on one thing—the time is ripe for a big... Read More

Talking Points: January/February 2018

New Guardian series on alternative economics ‘It’s time to take on the zombies’ is the title of the first article in Aditya Chakrabortty’s new fortnightly series called ‘The Alternatives’... Read More

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