The Birmingham Brief archive Contensis: http://www.contentmanagement.co.uk http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/index.aspx?SyndicationType=2 2013-06-19T11:39:24Z

Iranians will go to the polls today to elect a new President, replacing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Six men are on the ballot in the first round; the top two vote-getters will compete in the final round on 21 June.

2013-06-14T16:06:00Z 2013-06-14T16:02:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Presidential-elections-what-next-for-Iran.aspx

Harrowing images of the UK riots, public outrage over the banking scandal, and shocking failures at Stafford Hospital have led to calls for a greater focus on social values, virtues and morality. Headlines proclaim that we are losing our moral scruples, that we have an empathy-deficit, and that we must embrace ethical, values-based practices.

2013-06-07T12:01:00Z 2013-06-10T08:25:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Thanks-or-no-thanks-have-we-lost-our-sense-of-gratitude.aspx

June 13th sees the launch of the Institute for Research into Superdiversity, known as IRiS, at the University of Birmingham. It will bring together more than 60 academics from a wide range of disciplines across the University with practitioner researchers from 17 statutory agencies and community groups.

2013-06-07T10:45:00Z 2013-06-07T10:33:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Why-does-superdiversity-matter1.aspx

Information on Are credit unions failing or are they repositioning themselves for the future?

2013-05-23T10:46:00Z 2013-05-23T10:34:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/23-05-13Are-credit-unions-failing-or-are-they-repositioning-themselves-for-the-future.aspx

Information on The Conservative Party, Europe and a Referendum

2013-05-16T11:33:00Z 2013-05-16T11:07:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/16-05-13The-Conservative-Party,-Europe-and-a-Referendum.aspx

Information on Italy's new left-right government: not the 'normalisation' of the country's politics as yet...

2013-05-13T10:49:00Z 2013-05-13T10:38:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/09-05-13Italys-new-left-right-government-not-the-normalisation-of-the-countrys-politics-as-yet.aspx

Local elections will be held today in 34 councils, for 2,362 seats in 27 county councils and seven mainland unitaries. There are also two mayoral elections. Gains and losses will be measured in terms both of seats won and which parties have overall control of which councils.

2013-05-02T16:08:00Z 2013-05-08T15:59:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/BirminghamBrief0105.aspx

Home ownership in the UK is falling. Speculation about the demise of widespread home ownership, the vision for which has long been the dream of Conservative politicians, has finally been confirmed.

2013-04-26T09:29:00Z 2013-04-26T09:28:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Birmingham-Brief-0404.aspx

While it is sometimes tempting to see the regime of Kim Jong-eun as superficially comical, with its extravagant uniforms, dynastic worship and wild rhetoric, it is also important not to underestimate the serious risk of miscalculation and military escalation inherent within the current crisis. While there are many aspects of the present situation that are familiar to observers of the hermit state, there are also enough differences to give concern that this manufactured crisis could end differently.

2013-04-19T11:32:00Z 2013-04-19T11:27:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Calculation-and-Miscalculation-on-the-Korean-Peninsula.aspx

In the last couple of years the rare earth elements have hit the headlines due to supply issues for these often overlooked materials. In the 1980's rare earth minerals were mined and separated primarily in the US. However in the 1990's China began to produce rare earth oxides and elements.

2013-04-12T11:10:00Z 2013-04-12T11:01:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-Race-for-Rare-Earth-Metals.aspx

From the Empire State Building to the pyramids, members of the global autism community shone a lens on autism this week by lighting many iconic landmarks in blue. This was in celebration of World Autism Day, which is a global initiative instigated by the United Nations to help raise awareness. It marks the start of autism awareness month.

2013-04-05T12:11:00Z 2013-04-17T10:45:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/world-autism-day.aspx

Many people will be buying chocolate Easter eggs this week. For most, eating chocolate will be an enjoyable indulgence but for others, the presence of chocolate in the house will be an unwelcome temptation and consumption may be associated with feelings of guilt about diet breaking.

2013-03-28T16:13:00Z 2013-03-28T14:18:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Over-egging-the-chocolate-this-Easter-why-you-should-always-keep-an-eye-on-what-you-are-eating.aspx

Concerns about intra-European migration and migrant numbers are once again at the forefront of political discourse with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, and then Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, expressing concerns about the possible impacts of opening our labour market to Bulgarian and Romanian migrants in 2014.

2013-03-21T15:16:00Z 2013-03-21T15:05:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Bulgarian-and-Romanian-migration-to-the-UK-double-dilemma.aspx

Tomorrow will mark 25 years since the comedians Lenny Henry and Richard Curtis first launched Red Nose Day as the fundraising event for their charity, Comic Relief.

2013-03-14T16:35:00Z 2013-03-14T15:55:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Comic-Relief-25-years-on-why-charitable-giving-is-no-laughing-matter.aspx

Benedict XVI told the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square on 24 February 2013 that his retirement 'doesn't mean abandoning the church'. Many Catholics, though, including those who are not church goers, consider his unexpected resignation as the Vicar of Christ, an ill-thought out decision that will lead to an irreparable desacralization of the role.

2013-03-01T10:59:00Z 2013-03-01T10:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/sistine-chapel-chimney-could-get-sootier.aspx

A high profile political resignation following a legal scandal, allegations of sexual misconduct, two political 'partners' tearing at each other's throats, controversial candidates grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons and the future positions of the Prime Minister and his Deputy placed under the microscope.

2013-02-28T17:13:00Z 2013-02-28T17:03:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/eastleigh-by-election.aspx

The University of Birmingham's new Centre for Research in Race and Education (CRRE) is remarkable for several reasons, not least its establishment at a time when many people (in politics, the popular media and the education profession alike) seem to assume – erroneously – that racism and race inequality are things of the past.

2013-02-22T13:17:00Z 2013-02-22T13:10:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/race-and-education-Feb13.aspx

Given recent events, one could be forgiven for thinking that the UK's policy on nuclear power and nuclear waste is unravelling — but does it matter?

2013-02-15T12:06:00Z 2013-02-15T11:57:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Nuclear-decay-Big-challenges-ahead-for-energy-and-waste.aspx

Mental health is back on the political agenda with both government and the opposition claiming that it is one of their priorities, and the press debating the worth of different treatment options.

2013-02-08T10:27:00Z 2013-02-08T10:25:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Making-sense-of-psychiatry-the-cognitive-behavioural-therapy-debate.aspx

Many years ago a British politician, on learning that he was about to be appointed Minister for Transport, exclaimed: 'Some enemy hath done this!' It is not hard to see why he might have said this. The transport portfolio is often brimming over with some extremely difficult issues; and the HS2 (High Speed Rail 2) proposal is certainly no exception.

2013-01-31T09:52:00Z 2013-01-31T10:05:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/hs2-proposal.aspx

As gun barrels are cooling down around a blood–stained BP compound in Algeria, and as fighter jets still roam the skies of Northern Mali in search for Islamist militant targets, it is only legitimate to ask what Europe should contemplate doing next in the vast expanses (twice the size of Western Europe) of the Saharo–Sahelian region?

2013-01-24T16:41:00Z 2013-01-29T12:14:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-Sahara-and-Europe-so,-what-comes-next.aspx

The gang rape and subsequent death of a 23–year–old woman in New Delhi last month, and a second similar attack on a woman in Punjab this week, has focused the attention of the World's media.

2013-01-18T10:11:00Z 2013-01-18T12:45:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Shedding-light-on-Indian-gang-rape-attacks-.aspx

EMR has been billed as a measure to decarbonise the electricity economy whilst at the same time stopping the electricity system collapsing as old coal and nuclear power stations come off line. Unfortunately the Government is selecting policy mechanisms that give a market advantage to the electricity majors.

2013-01-09T17:01:00Z 2013-01-14T08:38:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Electricity-Market-Reform-All-power-to-the-Big-Six!.aspx

New Year's Eve is traditionally a time for celebration, reflection and looking forward with optimism. As Czechs and Slovaks mark what they call 'silvestr/silvester' by popping champagne corks and setting off fireworks, some will reflect not just on the dawn of a new year, but twenty years of separate statehood.

2013-01-04T11:11:00Z 2013-01-21T12:57:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Size-Matters-Two-Decades-after-the-Break-Up-of-Czechoslovakia.aspx

Much has been written recently about the death of the High Street but should we be so quick to bury it or rather consider what form of resuscitation is needed to revive it?

2012-12-13T13:34:00Z 2012-12-13T13:29:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/As-Christmas-clicks-in-on-line,-is-any-festive-cheer-left-for-the-High-Street.aspx

Is there an ideal electorate system? As a recent Birmingham Brief demonstrated, we are often faced with a simple binary choice: do we want 'strong government' which can claim an empowering mandate, or do we want a government that represents, however messily, 'the will of the people'? If we want the former, in the UK at least, we have persisted with a first-past-the-post system. From time-to-time, though, we have had a dark night of the soul, wondered at the fairness of governments' claiming a mandate from a minority of voters actually supporting them, and flirted with alternatives.

2012-12-10T14:24:00Z 2012-12-10T14:21:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/What-should-we-vote-for.aspx

The Catalan secessionist debate can be considered as the resurgence of a long-standing desire by Catalans to assert their national identity by the establishment of a distinct Catalan nation in which their economy, language and culture would not be centrally determined.

2012-12-10T13:48:00Z 2012-12-10T13:44:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Catalonias-Quest-for-Independence.aspx

During the course of November, four high-profile votes have taken place: the US presidential election; the Police and Crime Commissioner elections; the vote on women bishops and the EU budget negotiations.

2012-12-04T13:44:00Z 2012-12-04T13:00:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/From-first-past-the-post,-to-unanimous-agreement-and-everything-in-between-How-you-vote-matters1.aspx

On 14 November, 2012, an Israeli drone strike killed Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza. The sharply escalating violence in the aftermath of this so-called targeted killing, while particularly costly in human life, is part of a seemingly unending violent confrontation in the region: according to a timeline of the conflict, over the past almost four years (since the conclusion of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza) more than 300 Palestinians and 20 Israelis have been killed, while in the past two years, some 800 missiles have been launched from Gaza into southern Israel.

2012-12-04T12:53:00Z 2012-12-06T12:43:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Legal,-Legitimate,-and-Effective-Drone-Warfare-Grand-Illusion-or-Future-Reality.aspx

On 1 October 2012 Georgia, a small post-Soviet state on the Black Sea coast with a population of 4.6 million people, conducted its 8th Parliamentary elections since 1990. The pre-election campaign was closely watched by the West and the number of international observers monitoring the elections was allegedly the country's largest-ever.

2012-12-04T12:53:00Z 2012-12-06T12:45:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Georgias-Parliamentary-Elections-–-Democracy-in-Action.aspx

Back in November 2010, after Republicans decisively overturned the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, President Obama admitted his party had taken a "shellacking" in the midterm elections.

2012-12-04T12:37:00Z 2012-12-04T12:13:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/After-the-Election,-the-Republican-Party-Faces-a-Social-Cliff.aspx

According to Sir Humphrey Appleby in the 1980s BBC sitcom "Yes Prime Minister", the Trident missile system was "the Rolls Royce of nuclear weapons, the sort of deterrent that one would buy from Harrods." As the decision point looms for the replacement of this capability, questions are being asked whether Britain can afford a new Rolls, whether it should instead go for a more modest system, perhaps more of a Ford Mondeo deterrent, or whether indeed it should go green and eschew the need for such a costly and controversial system altogether.

2012-11-05T09:58:00Z 2012-11-05T09:40:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-New-Trident-Debate.aspx

Over the last few weeks, an aspect of policing that raises a number of political, legal and ethical dilemmas has come to the fore, namely: how do we police the police when they are accused of wrongdoing?

2012-10-25T15:48:00Z 2012-10-25T15:34:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Policing-the-Police.aspx

The recently reported Coalition cabinet dialogues on future energy policy, ahead of the long awaited Energy bill due to be published in November, have highlighted the many choices that need to be made if the UK is to enjoy affordable and resilient energy systems.

2012-10-24T11:24:00Z 2012-11-01T15:08:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/energy-storage.aspx

This week the new Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, stated that he believed there is a 'moral case' for halving the general time limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 12. This came just days after Maria Miller (Woman's Minister) called for a reduction to 20 weeks. Many have responded with alarm to these statements as they fall within a broader trend of attacking abortion provision.

2012-10-12T10:44:00Z 2012-10-12T09:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Eroding-womens-basic-freedoms-Current-trends-to-reduce-access-to-abortion.aspx

In his speech to the Labour party conference this week, Ed Miliband invoked the spirit of the former Conservative leader, Benjamin Disraeli, when he set out his vision for Britain to be 'one nation: a country where prosperity is shared'. So where are the 'one-nation Tories' and where do Conservatives more generally stand on this issue?

2012-10-05T10:02:00Z 2012-10-05T09:55:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Wealth-inequality---are-we-one-nation,-all-in-it-together.aspx

Michael Gove's recent statement on the status of GCSEs and the introduction of a new qualification – the English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) – have been greeted as another momentous change, but what do the reforms really mean and who is likely to win (and lose) as a result?

2012-09-28T10:59:00Z 2012-09-28T10:18:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Examining-exams-GCSEs,-the-EBacc-and-the-question-of-Equity.aspx

Where can Higher Education (HE) find an injection of £14billion over the next decade?

2012-09-21T16:37:00Z 2012-09-21T16:30:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/What-would-you-do-for-2billion-a-year.aspx

Michael Grove looks at the next steps for the National HE STEM programme following a major conference held at the University of Birmingham.

2012-09-07T10:04:00Z 2012-09-10T10:58:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-challenge-to-support-a-legacy-for-STEM-subjects.aspx

Many people going into hospital have concerns about contracting the hospital acquired infection - MRSA. Little do they realise that the risk of acquiring, and dying from, hospital-acquired, venous thromboembolism (VTE) is many times greater.

2012-08-31T15:11:00Z 2012-08-31T14:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/A-new-approach-to-blood-clot-prevention.aspx

Professor Rob Cryer examines the complex legal issues surrounding Ecuador's decision to grant Julian Assange asylum.

2012-08-30T10:03:00Z 2012-08-30T09:55:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Julian-Assange-Asylum-and-Immunity-An-Arresting-Issue.aspx

Since Munich 1972, and particularly since 9/11, Olympic security has grown in scale and complexity as security and resilience professionals attempt to deliver the Games with maximum safety and minimum disruption to their schedule and spectacle.

2012-07-20T12:04:00Z 2012-07-20T12:03:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Legacies-of-resilience-and-security-in-London.aspx

One of the key questions about the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is about a physical activity 'legacy'. Will the biggest sporting spectacle on earth 'inspire a generation' to become physically active and to participate in sport?

2012-07-13T11:28:00Z 2012-07-19T13:40:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Olympic-Legacy-Inspiring-a-Generation.aspx

Although latest evidence demonstrates that there have been further improvements in adult oral health since 1998, which have been hailed by government, the same evidence identifies a serious underlying issue of social inequalities, and particularly the link between poverty and oral health.

2012-07-10T13:10:00Z 2012-07-10T13:03:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Oral-health-as-a-marker-for-poverty.aspx

The Prime Minister's suggestion that under 25s lose their entitlement to housing benefit raises some serious questions. Whilst the immediate media reaction has focused on the fairness of the welfare state, the bigger picture is what this tells us about the current state of UK housing provision.

2012-06-29T16:16:00Z 2012-06-29T15:58:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/A-mutually-agreeable-housing-solution.aspx

Four years ago, a small group of concerned individuals from schools, higher education, exam boards and industry met at Microsoft Research Cambridge to discuss the disaster that Information and Computer Technology (ICT) education had become in schools throughout Britain and indeed the world.

2012-06-25T17:13:00Z 2012-06-25T17:09:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Shut-down-or-restart-The-transition-from-ICT-to-Computer-Science-in-Schools.aspx

The 'Troubled Families' programme launched by the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles on 11th June 2012 is the latest attempt to respond to a persistent question, 'Why do people become disconnected from mainstream society?'

2012-06-15T11:37:00Z 2012-06-15T11:31:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Troubled-Families-Or-Just-Broke-in-Britain.aspx

Avery Brundage, the former President of the International Olympic Committee, famously stated over 50 years ago that sport transcends politics and the former has no place in the dealings of the latter. Sport has always been inextricably bound up with politics, but nowadays the hosting of sports mega-events has become competitive in its own right, as potential hosts weigh up the benefits against the substantial costs of putting on such occasions.

2012-06-08T11:02:00Z 2012-06-08T10:40:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Euro-2012-the-Janus-Faced-Nature-of-Hosting-Sports-Mega-Events.aspx

Angela Merkel's second term as chancellor, which began in 2009, has been a difficult one. On the home front, there has been much infighting inside her CDU-FDP (conservative-liberal) government, her FDP coalition partner is weak and unpopular, and her own party, the CDU, has lost ground in important regional elections. Merkel's main challenge, however, remains the ongoing crisis in the eurozone.

2012-06-01T16:00:00Z 2012-06-11T13:39:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-eurozone-crisis-is-Angela-Merkels-chief-dilemma.aspx

With the recent collapse of Southern Cross the issue of managing resettlement of older people has come into sharp focus. The received wisdom is that closing services and moving older people elsewhere can be very risky.

2012-05-28T16:53:00Z 2012-06-14T17:25:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Closing-care-homes-–-can-you-achieve-positive-results-for-older-people.aspx

After two consecutive dry winters, which caused a critical drought with groundwater levels at record lows at many aquifers in the South-East and English Midlands, weather conditions have changed dramatically since the beginning of April. One of the UK's worst supra-seasonal droughts has turned into the wettest April on record, with water levels of many rivers responding quickly and fast-rising water levels in many areas causing wide-spread flooding.

2012-05-21T14:17:00Z 2012-05-21T14:11:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-wrong-type-of-rain.aspx

Last week, ten English cities voted on whether to alter the dynamics of leadership in their authorities and replace the current leader and cabinet formula with that of elected mayor, deputy, and cabinet. The rejection was almost unanimous, only Bristol registered a yes vote – but with a majority of less than seven per cent – and more than 60% of voters in Coventry, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and Wakefield prioritised the status quo above change. To some this outcome was a surprise, yet polls prior to the referenda were inconclusive at best, and taken in conjunction with the uncertainty surrounding elected mayors, it is hardly surprising that the majority of the electorate chose to stay at home or vote no, with average turnout being recorded at a particularly low 32 per cent.

2012-05-11T09:57:00Z 2012-05-11T09:42:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/mayoral-vote.aspx

The landmark verdict on April 26th against the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, is an important warning for those who perpetrate war crimes. Finding Taylor guilty of war-time atrocities during the war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002, shows that no-one can be above the law.

2012-05-03T16:23:00Z 2012-05-03T16:17:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Taylor-Verdict-is-a-Warning-to-Others.aspx

Why has a solution to the decade long nuclear stand-off with Iran proved so elusive? Based on ongoing research into the dynamics of nuclear rivalries, and the role of trust in international politics, we argue that the main obstacle to solving the crisis over Iran's nuclear program is that neither side believes that it is possible to reassure the other without this reducing their own security. Recent talks in Istanbul suggest that a new path to mutual security might be opening up, but there are still challenges ahead.

2012-04-27T17:55:00Z 2012-05-02T11:20:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Building-Mutual-Nuclear-Security-with-Iran.aspx

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by pervasive difficulties and delays in social and communication skills, as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. Current estimates suggest that autism is incredibly common, affecting approximately 1 in 100 children. Increasing awareness of autism has resulted in increased research activity on early diagnosis and early intervention. This, in turn, has resulted in social and political movements toward earlier and earlier diagnosis. In the most extreme cases, researchers in the USA have called for awareness of the "signs of autism" in the first 12-months of life.

2012-04-05T13:21:00Z 2012-04-05T13:16:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Autism.aspx

Dementia is common, devastating, and currently incurable; but research is contributing to greater understanding and better treatment and support.

2012-03-29T12:30:00Z 2012-03-30T09:09:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Dementia-UK.aspx

March is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. In a few weeks time NICE will meet to discuss the responses to their draft decision not to recommend abiraterone, a life extending drug for men with incurable prostate cancer.

2012-03-23T14:14:00Z 2012-03-23T14:11:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Abiraterone.aspx

The coalition government recently suffered one of its most significant defeats in the House of Lords over the welfare reform bill. Reforms of disability–related benefits and of child support proved to be contentious, but the most controversial idea was the introduction of a 'welfare cap'. That is, the idea that there should be a maximum level on the amount of support that a person may receive in terms of their benefits and tax credits.

2012-03-23T14:02:00Z 2012-03-23T13:58:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/welfare-benefits.aspx

Mental illness is the single largest cause of disability in the UK. It contributes up to 22.8% of the total burden compared to 15.9% for cancer and 16.2% for cardiovascular disease. (WHO 2008 Global Burden of Disease Report) The wider economic cost of mental illness in England has been estimated at £105.2 billion each year. (Centre for Mental Health 2010) Yet recent evidence suggests a scandal of premature mortality for people with mental illness (Wahlback 2011) and continuing public and professional ambivalence. Depression and schizophrenia routinely come bottom of the health professionals' disease prestige (Album 2008), and 25% of the general public still think that a woman who's ever been treated in a psychiatric hospital shouldn't be allowed to babysit (IC, 2011).

2012-03-23T13:46:00Z 2012-03-23T13:38:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Mental-Health-Services-in-a-Reformed-NHS.aspx

Last week, the Prime Minister used a speech at a summit in Sweden to try and "accelerate" the increase in the number of women on the boards of top UK firms, and to encourage more females to become entrepreneurs and leaders in business. Whilst the desire to have more women in senior positions is admirable, the analysis that underpins these policies too often starts with the negative supposition that women are not achieving their potential in business.

2012-03-23T13:45:00Z 2012-03-23T13:26:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/failing-female-entrepreneur.aspx

2011 was a truly historical turning point – it was a year which fundamentally changed the European Union's (EU) previous assumption about the Middle East and North African (MENA) region – that the fall of Arab autocrats was not imminent and that the dictators of the region would remain the partners to cooperate with in the near future. The Arab Spring events in Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond since December 2010 have successfully challenged the institutional order. Egypt is now embarking on a long and uncertain journey towards a more democratic future. But questions remain regarding the role of the EU towards nascent democracies.

2012-03-23T12:41:00Z 2013-03-22T14:46:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Impact-of-Events-in-Egypt-on-the-EU-Can-any-lessons-be-learnt-from-the-Arab-Spring.aspx

Recent reports from India highlighting a new strain of totally-drug resistant tuberculosis-(TB) have brought the disease known in the 19th Century as the 'White Plague' back to public consciousness. Despite success in treating the disease in the latter half of the 20th Century, TB remains one of the most significant global health challenges.

2012-03-23T12:31:00Z 2012-03-23T12:26:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/TB.aspx

Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Transport, announced on Tuesday 10 January 2012, that the government had approved the first phase of Britain's second high-speed railway line, HS2. She also announced the government's commitment to a number of measures that would reduce or mitigate the impact of the scheme on the Chilterns area, including new and longer tunnels in the Amersham and Chesham areas, as well as some 'green crossings'.

2012-03-23T12:21:00Z 2012-03-23T12:14:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/HS2-FS.aspx

An increase in government expenditure on biomedical research across the UK, administered through the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), was delivered through the last comprehensive spending review and this week has been enhanced still further through an additional £180 million to the life sciences industry to support a catalyst fund for new medical breakthroughs. The basis for this funding is to look to the life sciences industry to increase UK economic growth, and to develop novel NHS/university/pharma partnerships that will reinvigorate the discovery of new drugs and rapidly translate these to patient benefit.

2012-03-23T11:52:00Z 2012-03-23T11:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Regulation-on-UK-Clinical-Research.aspx

As this brief is being prepared for publication, world political leaders and environmental advocates have gathered in Durban to assess global progress in dealing with climate change. Most of their discussions will centre on the need to curb hydrocarbon energy consumption in developing and developed countries alike, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

2012-03-23T11:41:00Z 2012-03-23T11:39:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Energy-Poverty.aspx

Afghanistan is rarely out of the headlines — and seemingly for the wrong reasons. At the beginning of March, six UK military personnel were killed by a Taliban attack in what was the single worse loss of life for UK ground forces since the launch of the NATO–led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. This brought the number of UK dead to over 400 and the total number of ISAF fatalities to nearly 3,000. The tally among Afghans is even worse. The United Nations Mission to Afghanistan reported in February that 3,000 civilian deaths had occurred in 2011 alone. While the large majority was due to Taliban and other anti–government activity, night–search operations plus aerial and drone bombings, carried out by ISAF and its Afghan allies, still accounted for an estimated four hundred killed. The recent shootings of 16 innocent Afghans by an apparently deranged US soldier has only added to a perception, gaining ground even within the Afghan government, that the foreign military presence has outstayed its welcome.

2012-03-21T10:38:00Z 2012-03-22T10:08:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-Afghan-Reset.aspx

As the world marks the first anniversary of the meltdown at Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear reactor, the UK is confronted by a familiar conundrum over its own energy policies. It is in some ways unhealthy to continue to filter all discussion through the prism of the events of March 11 and the days that followed, but it cannot be denied that they propelled the debate over nuclear energy back to the top of the socioeconomic and political agendas. Japan is extremely cautious about the future. The likes of Germany swiftly decided nuclear power represents a dead end, while the likes of France continue to see it as a path to sustainability. And Britain still loiters at the crossroads.

2012-03-08T00:00:00Z 2012-03-23T14:01:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/The-need-for-a-roadmap-for-nuclear-policy.aspx

Since the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, health services in the UK have been funded primarily through general taxation and delivered free at the point of access to individuals. However, recent decades have witnessed an expansion in the global market for health services. This has been manifest in various ways, including an unprecedented increase in the volume of patients willing to traverse national borders for the purposes of receiving medical care.

2012-02-10T16:00:00Z 2012-03-23T13:07:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/10feb12-health-tourism.aspx

The London Olympics will undoubtedly be a spectacular success and bring with it a number of memorable sporting moments. Beyond the two weeks of action, however, it is worth reflecting on the increasingly political use of sport by a wide variety of states throughout the world. In recent years, there has been a shift from advanced capitalist states to developing, small or 'emerging' states who have queued up to stage a sporting mega-event.

2012-01-05T00:00:00Z 2012-03-23T12:04:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/05jan12-sportmegaevents.aspx

Understanding the Eurozone Crisis on one level is relatively easy. Put simply, many households are facing a similar situation. Households facing credit card bills and rising interest rates, and not earning enough to pay their bills, are essentially in a debt and deficit situation, like Eurozone states.

2011-12-19T13:30:00Z 2013-01-15T10:12:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Eurozone-Crisis---What-next-.aspx

Sir Michael Lyons has set out his vision for resolving what he sees as a deep crisis of confidence in public sector leadership, which is holding back the recovery.

2011-12-15T00:00:00Z 2012-03-23T12:02:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/UK-recovery.aspx

Information on The current state of German politics: it's all about the Euro

2011-11-25T00:00:00Z 2012-03-23T11:12:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/German-politics-its-all-about-the-Euro.aspx

For many years now, opposition to Berlusconi's government in Italy has focused on the man himself, as a symbol of the rotten heart of Italy: the court cases, his alleged links with the mafia, ad personam legislation, sex scandals, conflicts of interest, and the slide into superficial TV culture promoted by Berlusconi's three TV stations.

2011-11-17T15:40:00Z 2011-11-23T11:37:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/17nov-berlusconi.aspx

Having transparent mechanisms for distribution of global aid is hugely important. It allows scrutiny to ensure money is used effectively. The global aid landscape has changed drastically with the rise of southern donors like India and China. This makes it even more important that transparency for public flows of development aid should be non-negotiable, irrespective of whether or not they are official development assistance.

2011-11-03T00:00:00Z 2012-03-23T11:09:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/building-a-transparent-system-of-global-aid.aspx

This week as part of the ESRC's Festival of Social Science 2011, I will be hosting the event, "Faith in the City: communities, regeneration, interaction". The event sets out to explore the way in which faith inspires and influences people to live, work and act in the diverse, vibrant urban space that is today's Birmingham. Despite Alastair Campbell stating the British "don't do God", the event is interesting to many.

2011-11-01T17:22:00Z 2011-11-01T17:21:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/1nov-faith-in-the-city.aspx

Counterfactual analysis, the art of assessing how the world might look if something had not happened, is notoriously difficult and highly sensitive to the assumptions one makes about the alternative scenarios. Forecasting the impact of a major policy reversal is fraught with similar difficulties.

2011-11-01T12:02:00Z 2011-11-01T11:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/28oct-EU-what-has-it-done-for-us.aspx

Lobbying is once again a dirty word. The case of Liam Fox and Adam Werritty has led to bigger questions being asked about the accountability and transparency of British public life, more so than at any time since the expenses scandal of 2009. Yet lobbying is an inevitable, longstanding and relatively harmless part of politics. Notwithstanding the drama of defence policy and Cabinet resignations, its significance can also be grossly exaggerated.

2011-10-27T09:40:00Z 2011-10-27T09:39:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/21oct-lobbying.aspx

Western leaders have breathed sighs of relief and contentment at the unexpectedly swift breakthrough of rebel forces in Western Libya, which was a prelude to their march into Tripoli. At long last, the NATO-backed Libyan National Transitional Council has found a way of breaking Gaddafi's stranglehold. Yet, achieving military victory is relatively easy when compared to building peace after decades of authoritarian rule.

2011-10-07T11:35:00Z 2011-10-07T11:12:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/26aug-after-gadaffi.aspx

Rarely out of the headlines in recent months, the Bill has achieved a rather unenviable feat: it seems to have brought together an impressive array of normally uneasy bedfellows in opposition to the proposed changes. Clinicians, managers, policy makers, researchers, think tanks, charities and others rarely all agree – but all seem united in their hostility to the Bill and increasingly unafraid to voice their concerns. Even the businessman, Gerry Robinson, popped up on Panorama to tell the Health Secretary that the changes won't work and could spell the end of the NHS as we know it – that the lack of strategic planning and accountability inherent in the proposed new system was simply bad business and bad management.

2011-10-07T11:03:00Z 2011-10-07T10:44:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/7sept-health-social-care-bill.aspx

On Sunday 25 September 2011 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, during his annual speech to the Shura council, surprised his male audiences and delighted Saudi women activists who have been pushing for a greater public role in the affairs of their own country. He announced that after consultation with his religious advisers he had decided to grant Saudi women the right to vote and run for office in the next municipal elections.

2011-10-07T11:02:00Z 2011-10-07T10:38:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/29sept-saudi-women-vote.aspx

The current financial crisis started in the Autumn of 2008, and is only the last one of the many that have followed the banking deregulation of the mid-1980s. It has been a rolling financial crisis moving from economy to economy. Governments and bank regulators have tried to understand the role of financial markets in this process and are trying to improve financial stability.

2011-10-06T00:00:00Z 2011-10-17T14:34:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/6oct-banking-regulation.aspx

As Colonel Gaddafi's 42 years in charge of Libya draw to a seemingly climactic end – the dramatic scenes in Tripolil leave a series of questions that need to be urgently answered.

2011-08-23T13:54:00Z 2011-08-23T14:37:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/23-Aug-Libya-what-next.aspx

Last week thousands of young people spontaneously rioted in a number of English cities for no apparent reason. In the aftermarth of the riots there have been many calls for the renewal of public and private virtues. We appear to want to change people for the better and so improve the quality of public life.

2011-08-18T17:06:00Z 2011-08-18T17:00:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/18aug-riots-education.aspx

George Osborne has doggedly fought back at critics of the government's austerity strategy, repeating the mantra that sustaining the 'policy credibility' of UK plc with financial markets and investors is the paramount challenge facing this parliament. This week the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been able to draw on an apparent endorsement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for his agenda of public spending cuts and the Coalition's broader economic policy choices. But is the IMF's 'endorsement' all that the Chancellor makes it out to be?

2011-07-29T10:24:00Z 2011-07-29T10:15:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/9-June-Cash-or-Credit-UK-public-spending-cuts-and-the-IMF.aspx

In 2010, the former Prime Minister published a review of adult social care in which the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) argued that the system was fundamentally broken. A year on and very little has changed to alter our pessimistic assessment. Indeed in recent weeks, this diagnosis has been reconfirmed by a number of inter-related developments, including:

2011-07-15T14:24:00Z 2011-07-15T14:23:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/23Jun-SocialCareisBroken.aspx

The much-touted phrase 'from nanny to nudge' symbolises the Coalition Government's aspirations to find new ways to shape the habits and attitudes of good citizenship and to spread them more widely. Policy makers hope to change our expectations of what local and national government should provide, our ideas about who might provide them, and our commitment to changing our own and others' behaviours in all areas of our lives.

2011-07-15T14:14:00Z 2011-07-15T14:12:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/12Jul-YoungPeople-publicservices.aspx

With thousands of public sector workers striking this week and the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister both speaking at the Local Government Conference in Birmingham the future of public services has rarely seemed a more divisive or topical issue.

2011-07-14T17:53:00Z 2011-07-14T16:55:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/26JunPublic-Servants-Reform.aspx

Information on Libya—100 Days On

2011-06-30T16:26:00Z 2011-06-30T16:25:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/30Jun-100DaysinLibya.aspx

On the 26 June 2011, after 16 years in hiding, one of the most notorious alleged war criminals from the former Yugoslavia was captured in Serbia. He has been sent to the Netherlands to face charges (first issued in 1996) of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), an international tribunal set up by the UN Security Council in 1993.

2011-06-16T16:44:00Z 2011-06-16T16:31:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/16jun-criminal-justice.aspx

The Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, has recently announced the approval of the Initial Gate Business Case for the replacement for the Vanguard Class nuclear submarines. The contracts for this phase are likely to be in the region of £3bn. However, the Defence Secretary admitted that the total cost was likely to reach £25bn by the time the boats are built. Given that the initial estimates prepared in 2006 were in the region of £15–20bn, the sceptics around Whitehall, who are well used to Ministry of Defense (MoD) 'guesstimations', anticipate the final bill being closer to £38bn.

2011-06-07T16:48:00Z 2012-02-06T14:42:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/07JunTridentNews.aspx

The recent controversy over the availability of injunctions poses several significant questions for the law, Parliament and the courts. In the most famous ongoing case, CTB, the claimant is a footballer who had a sexual liaison with Imogen Thomas, a model and reality TV star. The coverage must be understood in the context of a longer term campaign by the media and various parties against the perceived restrictiveness of English law in the area of defamation and privacy law. These claims are brought in respect of privacy, through claims for the wrongs of breach of confidence or misuse of private information.

2011-06-01T12:00:00Z 2011-06-01T11:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/2jun-twitter-the-law.aspx

As America's favourite cartoon character, Homer Simpson, recognised when he visited London in 2003, there is a shared family tree between the UK, the United States and Canada. Centuries of history along with geography and a common language have created an interaction between the three nations that stretches beyond mere symbolism.

2011-05-26T00:00:00Z 2011-06-02T11:31:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/26may-uk-america-canada.aspx

This week the coalition government announced a radical set of climate change targets which will limit the UK's CO2 emissions to 50% of their 1990 levels by 2025 and shift the emphasis of the UK's energy consumption firmly away from fossil fuels towards renewables and nuclear.

2011-05-20T10:48:00Z 2011-05-20T10:47:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/19may-carbon-targets.aspx

The Munro Review into child protection policy and practice in England was published on 10 May 2011. Professor Eileen Munro's recommendations, if accepted and implemented by government, would signal a sea change for such services and for the children and families with whom they work.

2011-05-16T16:35:00Z 2012-02-06T14:42:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/16may-munro-review.aspx

About half of the UK population use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during their lifetimes. Yet despite this, successive governments have appeared remarkably reluctant to engage with the regulation of these therapeutic practices, despite its stated commitment to responsive and appropriate regulation of the health sector.

2011-05-12T00:00:00Z 2012-02-06T14:42:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/12may-complementary-health.aspx

Now that the dust has somewhat settled after the initial euphoria, triumphalism, gloating, and relief that followed Barack Obama's announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden, more sober analysis is beginning of the broader implications of the end of a 15-year manhunt.

2011-05-05T16:33:00Z 2012-02-06T14:41:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/5may-OBL-death.aspx

Questioning China's remarkable economic performance over the last 30 years seems to fly in the face of wisdom honed by decades of double digit growth. However, it is perfectly possible to explain China in the context of standard models of economic growth. Immigration of low-wage labour into the Eastern seaboard along with transfers of capital from Chinese Diaspora in Hong Kong, Taiwan and further afield, created the conditions for the 'miracle'.

2011-05-03T10:50:00Z 2011-05-03T10:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/28april-china-economy.aspx

The Department for International Development (DFID) recently published a Multilateral Aid Review (MAR), critically assessing 43 different international organisations (IOs), agencies and private groups. It has concurrently conducted a Bilateral Aid Review (BAR) of its own operations. This brief shows that both reviews indicate an important shift in UK aid policies, whereby future development assistance will be based on the UK's vision of development rather than more traditional global indicators.

2011-04-21T15:27:00Z 2011-04-21T15:26:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/21apr-aid-review.aspx

Recent events in Libya and Cote d'Ivoire have once again highlighted the issue of conflict in Africa, raising the question of whether the continent is capable of addressing crises without international intervention.

2011-04-18T12:02:00Z 2011-04-18T12:00:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/14apr-conflict-in-africa.aspx

Fathers of children born after 3 April 2011 are entitled to take Additional Parental Leave (APL), in addition to two weeks statutory paternity leave. By allowing both (qualifying) parents to share paid parental leave, APL seemingly demonstrates a commitment to giving fathers a genuine opportunity to parent their children in the first year of life. In fact, it is not obvious that APL will make a significant difference.

2011-04-08T00:00:00Z 2011-04-13T09:34:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/8apr-parental-leave.aspx

Britain had an overdose of budget announcements in 2010, from Labour's budget in March, to the Coalition's 'emergency' budget in June and then their Spending Review in October. Compared to all of this, the March 2011 Budget was a rather dull affair.

2011-04-05T15:32:00Z 2011-04-05T15:31:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/31mar-big-squeeze.aspx

This week is Climate Week but has anyone noticed? Events in Libya and Japan have quite rightly grabbed both the headlines and the inside pages of the media. Nevertheless, climate events have been running throughout the country to try and show that climate should still be high on the nation's agenda. 23 March, as well as being Budget Day in the UK, was also World Meteorological Day commemorating the founding of the World Meteorological Organisation in 1950. The theme this year is 'Climate for you'.

2011-03-24T17:27:00Z 2011-03-25T17:09:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/24Mar-climatechange.aspx

As the crisis in Libya unfolds and as the US, France and the UK get potentially sucked ever deeper into yet another disastrous military intervention, policy debates and decisions appear to be driven primarily by humanitarian concern. Unsurprisingly, supporters and opponents alike use the humanitarian argument—one side seeks to stop a murderous dictator from slaughtering his own people, the other is concerned about the inevitable civilian casualties and 'collateral damage' caused by airstrikes, no matter how sophisticated the military technology behind them might be.

2011-03-22T11:29:00Z 2011-03-22T15:39:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/22Mar-Libya-a-solution.aspx

The tragic events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant constitute the worst nuclear disaster in more than two decades. Whilst the human cost is of paramount importance and rightly dominates the headlines there will also be significant implications for the future of the world wide nuclear industry, which suffered a 20 year decline after the partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island and the disaster at Chernobyl. Both events reinforced the negative public perception toward nuclear power that had emerged over the course of the 1970s.

2011-03-18T00:00:00Z 2012-02-06T14:41:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/18mar-nuclear-industry.aspx

The current demographic trends show that the UK's population is becoming older. As this happens the incidence of neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia and Parkinson's disease is also increasing. This has huge social, economical and political implications – further evidence that understanding how the brain works both in health and disease is a challenge that we need to address urgently before the problem of neurodegeneration becomes more evident.

2011-03-14T15:04:00Z 2011-03-14T15:01:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/14mar-neuroscience-research.aspx

Education and related services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities are estimated to cost in the region of £5.2bn a year from a total education budget of £30.4bn. In the current climate it is no surprise that the Government would seek to reduce costs.

2011-03-10T17:02:00Z 2011-03-10T17:01:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/10mar-special-education.aspx

Many keen supporters of electoral reform and, indeed, any constitutional reform agenda which aims to strengthen processes of representation and accountability, may find it difficult to feel overly excited about the prospect of the introduction of the Alternative Vote (AV) for UK general elections.

2011-03-02T16:36:00Z 2011-03-02T16:36:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/2march-alternative-vote.aspx

On Sunday, elections to the state parliament in Hamburg saw Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) take a resounding defeat with just 21.9% of the vote, a fall from 42.6% in 2008. As a result, the Social Democrats (SPD) won a landslide victory in the Landtag by a massive 48.3%, a dramatic swing to the centre-left party after ten long years in opposition.

2011-02-24T13:27:00Z 2011-02-24T16:02:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/24feb-merkel-defeat-in-hamburg.aspx

Britain now has one of the largest and most diverse gambling markets in the world. Gross takings after paying out winnings are in the region of £10bn annually. I argue in my book, 'An Unsafe Bet?', that gambling has been allowed to expand without proper public consultation and debate. Constraints on commercial gambling provision were progressively eased in the 1980s and 90s, culminating in the liberalising Gambling Act of 2005. Intense lobbying for de-restriction on the part of gambling operators was an important element, but lack of consideration of the dangerous, addictive nature of gambling products also played a part.

2011-02-17T13:32:00Z 2011-02-17T13:31:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/15feb-gambling.aspx

1848 witnessed the 'Spring of the peoples' with almost all of Europe contending with revolutionary movements. Are we set to see 2011 remembered as the 'Spring of the Arab peoples'? After Tunisia's 'Jasmine Revolution', Egypt is on course to achieve radical regime change.

2011-02-17T00:00:00Z 2011-07-04T09:32:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/17feb-arabic-protests.aspx

It's not surprising that the current debate on prisoners' voting rights is dividing opinions not just between political parties but also within the parties themselves.

2011-02-10T00:00:00Z 2012-02-06T14:41:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/10feb-prisoner-rights.aspx

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's announcement yesterday (1 February), that he will not seek re-election but will stay in power until the presidential elections in September to ensure a smooth transition period, is unlikely to satisfy the demand of the public for his immediate removal from power.

2011-02-03T11:39:00Z 2011-02-03T11:32:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/2feb-cairo-crisis.aspx

Professor Sir John Beddington's Foresight report on Food and Farming commissioned by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) calls once again for urgent action to avert global hunger. What's new about this report is that its multidisciplinary nature makes it thoroughly convincing while at the same time more worrying for food security. In 20 years the world population could be around 8.3 billion, and in those 20 years we need to deliver 40% more food, 30% more fresh water and 50% more energy.

2011-01-27T11:25:00Z 2011-01-27T11:25:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/27jan-food-shortage.aspx

First came a report from the Quilliam Foundation calling for the term Islamophobia to be replaced due to the widespread confusion about what it actually means and how it should be used. Despite having been part of the social and political lexicon for almost a decade and half now, Quilliam recommend 'anti-Muslim prejudice', 'anti-Muslim bigotry' or 'anti-Muslim hatred'.

2011-01-24T11:43:00Z 2011-01-24T11:41:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/islamophobia-chris-allen-210111.aspx

Tunisia is well known for its dream-like Mediterranean beaches, but it has never hit the British headlines for its vibrant political activity – since independence in 1956, it has been traditionally easy to anticipate election results, as the country has only had two presidents in 54 years. That was until an unemployed grocer, Mohamed Bouazizi, immolated himself in the small town of Sidi-Bouzid on 17 December.

2011-01-20T16:57:00Z 2011-07-04T09:33:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/20jan-Tunisia-revolution.aspx

On 9 January polling started in Southern Sudan in a referendum to determine whether one of the largest states in Africa will divide. The result of the referendum is so certain that the South's Independence Day has already been set for 9 July, six months after the start of polling.

2011-01-13T10:55:00Z 2011-01-13T10:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/sudanese-independence-13jan.aspx

Christmas is perennially highlighted as one of the most stressful times of the year with the natural assumption being that stress is always bad for our physical health. However, our research is showing that the picture may be rather less clear and that there may be health risks inherent in not reacting to stressful situations.

2010-12-22T12:52:00Z 2010-12-22T12:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/festive-stress-221210.aspx

Unlike the previous meeting in Copenhagen a year ago, the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún, which finished last Saturday, did produce an agreement. In the words of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, 'The beacon of hope has been reignited and faith in the multilateral climate change process to deliver results has been restored'. The key question is - is it good enough?

2010-12-16T00:00:00Z 2010-12-17T10:39:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/cancun-16dec.aspx

Misguided, irresponsible, reprehensible – these are just some of the words used by critics to describe the latest set of releases on the website, WikiLeaks. But is this more than hurt pride and should we really care one way or another?

2010-12-09T13:50:00Z 2010-12-09T13:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/wikileaks-whatmakesitdangerous.aspx

The Coalition Government's proposal to cut £162 million funding for 450 school sports partnerships offers an intriguing case study of this era of new party politics and policy-making. Two points lend weight to the argument that this is a rushed decision made by an ill-informed minister, Education Secretary Michael Gove.

2010-12-03T13:56:00Z 2010-12-03T13:56:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/school-sports-partnerships-03Nov.aspx

Many commentators in the UK are pointing to Ireland's presence in the Euro for its current economic woes. This is somewhat misplaced. The 'Celtic Tiger' was founded on solid economic grounds. Ireland is an attractive location within the Eurozone for overseas firms due to its English speaking, well-educated, and relatively young workforce and low corporate tax rate. Without the Euro, it is arguable that the boom years may never have happened.

2010-11-25T10:29:00Z 2010-11-25T10:27:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/irish-economy-25Nov.aspx

The government's new Vision for Adult Social Care stresses the need to create 'capable communities and active citizens', fully embracing the personalisation agenda as the key way to deliver this.

2010-11-19T15:46:00Z 2010-11-19T15:45:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/personalisedsocialcare191110.aspx

Since 1966, manufacturing employment in the United Kingdom has declined. In 1995, 300,973 people were employed in manufacturing in the West Midlands (Metropolitan County), but by 2008 this had declined to 153,800. Over the same period, an additional 87,481 jobs in public administration, education and health were created and 185,158 jobs in services. Yet many of these service jobs are poorly paid and only provide services for local people rather than for export.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/manufacturinginBritain.aspx

Commentators are currently focused on the extraordinary Conservative-Liberal coalition, and whether it will deliver a 'new politics'. But the emerging contest over Labour's future may prove even more significant for the long-term shape of politics in Britain.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/afterNewLabour.aspx

Following the third of the historic Prime Ministerial debates – staged, of course, here at the University of Birmingham – the possibility of the election producing a single-party Conservative majority government increased – though marginally – for the first time in weeks. Similarly, the likelihood of a less conclusive result reduced somewhat; presumably to the relief of those who have been predicting instability, legislative deadlock and parliamentary collapse as the probable outcomes of a hung parliament.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/localgvtlessons.aspx

Last night at the University of Birmingham the three leaders got to grips with the economy. The debate was long on rhetoric and short on detailed economics. The first question should have got to the heart of the problem – how were the parties going to 'fill the hole'.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/economydebate.aspx

Migration and super diverse societies are the new reality of the developed. The major issue is not whether or not we should be tough on migration, because we now have tough controls in place, but how we can better integrate the widely diverse communities resident in the UK.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/superdiversesociety.aspx

'One of the highest priority national security risks to the UK.' This is how cyber–security is regarded in the recently presented National Security Strategy. The document, which outlines the main security concerns of Britain and how the government intends to deal with them, further observes that cyber attacks can have 'potentially devastating real–world effects' on government, military, industrial, and economic targets.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/cyber-warfare.aspx

Spending on social security benefits and tax credits – 'welfare' as it is increasingly known – represents £190 billion or around one third of government spending. When cuts in public spending are regarded as unavoidable, it is inevitable that welfare comes under pressure. The June 2010 Budget proposed measures that reduce spending by £11 billion, while the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) found another £7 billion of cuts. Radical reforms are on the horizon.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/CSR.aspx

Few can have been unaffected by the disturbing scenes following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January. More than one million displaced survivors are now housed in camps around the capital, Port-au-Prince, with squalid sanitation facilities and little access to clean drinking water. Poor sanitation is known to give rise to disease and so it is unsurprising that, at the time of writing, there are more than 2,600 known cases of cholera in Haiti, with more than 250 people having lost their lives.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Cholera.aspx

The recent terror plot to transport printers containing the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, from Yemen to Chicago synagogues has once again focused attention on the need to detect explosives reliably and in real-time. PETN is the same explosive that the so-called 'shoe-bomber' tried to set off on an American Airlines jet to Miami in 2001.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:54:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/sorrel-detectingexplosives.aspx

Navigating the job market can be a difficult process for those newly graduated. Expectations can quickly become replaced by a sense of disillusionment as settling for a seemingly less prestigious, and in some cases a "non graduate" role appears the only option.

2010-11-17T16:04:00Z 2010-11-17T15:55:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/employment-hope.aspx

Dr Lindsey Appleyard is an author on the forthcoming report 'Home ownership and the distribution of personal wealth' for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Housing Market Taskforce.

2010-11-17T16:03:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/assetbasedwelfare.aspx

Professor Colin Thain is the principle investigator in an ESRC funded project on the Treasury under New Labour and an expert on the UK Treasury and economic policy.

2010-11-17T15:55:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/economicchallenges.aspx

Birmingham will be at the forefront of developments in childhood cancer research thanks to the launch of a new centre which will co-ordinate groundbreaking clinical trials across the UK. The Cancer Research UK Children's Clinical Trials Team at the University of Birmingham will play a major role in the development of new treatments for childhood cancers. Dr Pam Kearns reflects on the challenges for childhood cancer treatment in the UK.

2010-11-17T15:55:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/childhoodcancertrials.aspx

One of the campaign slogans of the Conservative Party in the recent general election was their commitment to the creation of a new 'Big Society' in Britain. This was contrasted to the 'big government' that they associated with the Labour administration, which they suggested was crowding out independent citizen and community action, and which in any event would be unaffordable in the foreseeable future given the deficit in public finances.

2010-11-17T15:55:00Z 2010-11-17T15:53:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/communityengagement.aspx

As poor air quality is associated with poor health, rising levels of air pollutants are a cause for legitimate concern. Air pollution is a mix of gases and particles which arise from natural sources, industry and, most importantly, motor vehicles. Air pollution episodes usually occur during periods of high pressure especially when pollutants are trapped close to the ground not allowing upwards escape to the atmosphere.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Airpollution–hotanddirty.aspx

A primary challenge for publicly funded health care is the distribution of resources and the setting of priorities. As the impacts of the recent economic slump are increasingly felt throughout government departments, the rationing of health care within the National Health Service is likely to become a matter of controversy and conflict. The basis by which we ration health care will come under increasing scrutiny.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/measuringmedicaltreatments.aspx

While efforts continued to cope with the consequences of the mass violence that erupted on 9 June in the south of the small and mountainous ex-Soviet republic, including an anticipated death toll of more than 2,000 and more than 400,000 displaced persons, Kyrgyzstan's Interim Government pressed ahead with a referendum on a new Constitution on Sunday. Preliminary results indicate that turn out was around 70% of the population, with 91% voting in favour and just 8% against.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Krygystan.aspx

The general election held on 6 May finally led to a new government for the UK. Eventually, because of course the election itself did not produce an outright winner and only when the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats were able to agree on the construction of a coalition could a new government be formed. The delays flowing from this have made it more difficult to predict at an early stage how the new government will act, in particular because third sector policy was not a high profile policy issue to be included in the initial coalition talks.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Bigsocietyorcivilsociety.aspx

Volunteering at a Day Centre for people with head injuries, as part of my research, provides a different perspective on life. You get to hear comments such as "The general public don't understand what head injury is... they look at you and think you're perfectly normal".

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/headinjury.aspx

Ultimately a brand stands by the quality of the product it represents. If people like the product, find it reliable, trustworthy, even in modern parlance iconic, they will buy it.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Cadburys.aspx

Since 1996, when the then World Bank president spoke out against the 'cancer of corruption', foreign aid donors and national governments in many developing countries have been trying to find workable solutions to often systemic problems with corruption. Corruption has been seen by many as one of the biggest challenges facing the developing world: reducing funds available for poverty reduction, increasing inequality, destroying or stultifying democratic institutions and, at worst, leading to conflict and global insecurity.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/women,religion.aspx

The last Budget before the General Election shows that the Treasury and Prime Minister have not agreed on a comprehensive medium-term strategy to deal with the public finances. By not giving targeted and detailed cuts in spending, the Chancellor has left all the really difficult decisions until after the General Election. It is a cautious but modest political budget.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/politicalbudget.aspx

Climate change is now widely accepted as one of the greatest challenges we all face. In our own region, Birmingham City Council has made a bold commitment to tackle this challenge with a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2026. However, mitigating any change provides just part of the solution in combating the problem.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/climaterisk.aspx

Although no groups have as yet claimed responsibility for the two suicide attacks the Russian security services, the FSB, have indicated that groups linked to the North Caucasus may have been behind the bombings at the Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations in Moscow.

2010-11-17T15:54:00Z 2010-11-17T15:52:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/Moscowmilitants.aspx

For many years the conventional wisdom has argued that increasing the stringency of environmental regulations such regulations will damage industrial competitiveness. Perhaps the most famous example of this viewpoint is provided by George W Bush's refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement on the grounds that to do so would damage US competitiveness.

2010-11-17T15:53:00Z 2010-11-17T15:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/enviro-regulations.aspx

High speed train travel is already established in many mainland European countries and in some it has become the major transport mode for long distance internal journeys. In the UK there is only one stretch of high speed railway from St Pancras to the channel tunnel (known as High Speed 1 or HS1) and there does seem to be considerable backing for the development of a second high speed line north of London.

2010-11-17T15:53:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/HS2.aspx

Suffolk County Council's recent decision to outsource almost all of its services to social enterprises or private companies has intensified the debate about the future of local public services.

2010-11-17T15:53:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/publicservices,bigsociety.aspx

This was the question at a debate at the University of Birmingham last week held as part of the British Science Festival. Around one-fifth of the power stations in Great Britain will close within five years as air pollution rules get tougher, and most of our nuclear stations will reach the end of their expected lifetimes soon after 2020.

2010-11-17T15:53:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/energyconsumption.aspx

I always tell my students that, when sitting an exam, they have to answer the question that has been set rather than one that they feel comfortable with. No analogy is ever perfect, but this one sums up pretty neatly the outcome of the deliberations by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which, by ten votes to four, found that the Declaration of Independence (DoI) of Kosovo adopted on 17 February 2008 did not violate international law.

2010-11-17T15:53:00Z 2010-11-17T15:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/courtofjustice.aspx

That might seem a strange statement, given the biggest Republican gains in the House of Representatives since 1948 and some high-profile victories in the Senate as well as state Governor's campaigns. It certainly doesn't fit with the repetitive theme of 'stunning defeat' (CNN) and 'dismal night' (BBC) for President Obama. But walk a bit further beyond the 65-seat swing to the GOP (the 'Grand Old Party'), giving them a majority of 51 in the lower house of the Congress.

2010-11-04T00:00:00Z 2011-06-02T12:13:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/USmidterms.aspx

On 16th September Andrew Mitchell MP, Secretary of State for International Development, made a speech about conflict and development at the Royal College of Defence Studies. In this speech he argued that as part of the government's Strategic Defence Security Review (SDSR) there should be a reassessment of the UK's response to overseas conflict which puts development at the heart of an integrated approach that both protects the world's most vulnerable people and protects the UK from external threats.

2010-09-30T00:00:00Z 2011-01-31T20:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/AidandUKsecurity.aspx

The 'big society' assumes that government alone cannot solve complex social problems. Instead, by expanding the opportunities for civic participation, it is hoped that an active citizenry will play a greater role in tackling problems that affect communities. The package of policies is predicated on the notion that there has been a decline in civic participation and that this can be attributed to the dependency culture encouraged by 'big government'.

2010-06-22T00:00:00Z 2011-07-04T09:32:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/civicsocietydecline.aspx

In a month of election campaigning the issue of international development and aid policy was barely referred to by any of the three major parties. So what will the new government mean for UK aid policy?

2010-05-20T00:00:00Z 2010-11-23T16:00:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/UKaid.aspx

This week, the national political and policy landscape for the UK has changed, as demonstrated by the sight of David Cameron sharing a press conference podium with Nick Clegg. However, this changed political and policy landscape applies to UK Local Governance as well.

2010-05-14T00:00:00Z 2011-01-31T20:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/newpoliticallandscape.aspx

In the speech of thanks at his Parliamentary election early this morning, Conservative leader David Cameron asserted, "It is clear that this Labour Government no longer has a mandate to govern." Maybe so: but it is not clear who does have that mandate.

2010-05-07T00:00:00Z 2011-06-15T12:01:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/mandatetogovern.aspx

Benjamin Franklin famously said that 'in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes' and the issue of how death and taxes should be linked in future policy has provoked plenty of lively pre-election discussion amongst politicians of all parties.

2010-04-28T00:00:00Z 2011-01-31T20:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/deathtaxes.aspx

The UK is one of the leading centres for cancer research and clinical trials. Many of the most significant drug developments of the last decade have come through UK research.

2010-04-21T00:00:00Z 2011-01-31T20:50:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/cancercare.aspx

It is widely accepted that a major challenge of the 21st century is to provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation for all, particularly in urban areas. More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war.

2010-03-22T00:00:00Z 2011-01-31T20:51:00Z http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/impact/thebirminghambrief/items/urbanwater.aspx