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The Latest Breaking News from ESRC

Cannabis boom in South Africa and Zimbabwe is good for wealthy investors, bad for small farmers

Cannabis is booming as an ingredient in everything from supplementary oils, inflammation-reducing skin creams, lip balms to health drinks and gummy sweets that promise to reduce anxiety and pain and promote relaxation.

The Conversation

Raila Odinga: the man who changed Kenya without ever ruling it

Raila Amollo Odinga, who has died at the age of 80, was something of a paradox in post-independence Kenyan politics.

The Conversation

India’s burgeoning financial technology sector could teach Keir Starmer something about levelling up

Keir Starmer’s first visit to India was a chance to talk about trade, technology and a closer relationship. The UK prime minister said he was impressed by the country’s “sheer scale” and impressive economic growth.

The Conversation

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Can Labour’s plan to fund deprived communities see off Reform? What the evidence shows

More than a year after the UK government abandoned the phrase “levelling up”, it has now launched a fresh strategy to distribute funding to disadvantaged communities. The promise to these deprived areas is three-pronged: investment in community facilities, enhancing public spaces like parks, and revitalising town centres and high streets.

The Conversation

Parental leave reform needs to consider small and medium businesses

The UK government announced a landmark review of parental leave in July 2025. This responds to widespread concern about failings within the current policy framework.

The Conversation

Major new study launched tracking thousands of babies

Families from across the UK would be invited to take part in the Generation New Era research, experts said.

Evening Standard

Major new study to track thousands of babies throughout their lives

The Generation New Era study will include up to 30,000 babies from across Britain

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Politicians now talk of climate ‘pragmatism’ to delay action – new study

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has described her plan to “maximise extraction” of the UK’s oil and gas from the North Sea as a “common sense” energy policy.

The Conversation

Our survey of Green party members suggests Zack Polanski has the mandate to take his party in a more radical direction

Thanks to the media interest in his election as leader of the Green party of England and Wales, there’s now plenty of information available about Zack Polanski, the so-called “eco-populist” who won a landslide victory over his arguably more moderate rivals.

The Conversation

Nigel Farage and the political power of English grievance

One apparent constant in contemporary UK politics is Nigel Farage’s ability to mobilise a sense of grievance among those who regard themselves as English. By doing so, Farage has, on successive occasions, managed to shift the terms of political debate so that the issues he cares about become the key…

The Conversation

Property developers installing as few as half of promised ecological features – new report

The UK is currently one of the world’s most biodiversity-depleted countries. Urbanisation is a known driver of the nature crisis. This means that the planning system, which regulates development in the UK, plays a crucial role in protecting nature from harm.

The Conversation

960 million dirty diapers are a big waste problem – what can be done with them

The use of disposable diapers (nappies) is growing in African countries. The disposable diaper undoubtedly makes it easier for many parents to work or spend time on other things, including their own and their child’s wellbeing.

The Conversation

US politics has long shaped global climate action and science – how much will Trump’s opposition matter?

US president-elect Donald Trump has indicated that he will again withdraw his country from the Paris agreement and perhaps the UN climate process altogether. The uncertainty this has created was palpable in the negotiation rooms and hallways of the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where I wrote this.

The Conversation

The gas crisis is not over yet

Policy and luck have bought Europe a reprieve from the heights gas prices reached between the winters of 2022 and 2023, but prices are climbing again and the global gas market remains precariously balanced.

The Conversation

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The Conversation

Unrest in Bangladesh reflects young people’s struggle to find decent work in the world’s poorest nations

Protests that started as a student movement driven by longstanding dissatisfaction over a quota system to allocate government jobs in Bangladesh have precipitated a change in the country’s political leadership.

The Conversation

Inside the political struggle at the IPCC that will determine the next six years of climate science

The UN’s climate science advisory group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is currently meeting in Bulgaria to decide on a timeline for its next “cycle” of reports over the rest of this decade. That decision should have been taken in January, but government divisions arose over aligning IPCC…

The Conversation

What a ‘right to disconnect’ from work could look like in the UK

The UK’s new government has promised to take action to “promote a positive work-life balance for all workers”, and to prevent homes “turning into 24/7 offices”. The risk of “always on” working has grown since the pandemic, with technology meaning that work is often within easy reach.

The Conversation

Why overcrowded prisons are more dangerous than releasing prisoners early

Last week, the government made its first move to address the overcrowding crisis in UK prisons. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced a plan to release some prisoners after they have served 40% of their custodial sentence, rather than the current 50%.

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The Conversation

For the next prime minister to solve the UK’s productivity problem, they must attract more foreign investment – here’s how

The British economy has a serious productivity problem that will have to be addressed by the next government. According to data from the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), productivity measured as GDP per hour worked in the UK only rose 4% between 2015 and 2022. The average…

The Conversation

Lib Dem proposals take social care reform seriously – but doubts remain over how they’d pay for it

Despite the fact that it is central to so many people’s lives, too often, social care is an afterthought for UK political parties. In the first TV debate of the 2024 general election, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer devoted only 36 seconds to this issue.

The Conversation

How 14 years of Conservative rule has made council bankruptcy commonplace

A growing number of councils in England have declared bankruptcy since 2018, most recently Nottingham, Woking, Thurrock and Birmingham. With the situation in the devolved nations of the UK looking similarly precarious, the question of quite what has happened to local government finances in the UK is an urgent one.

The Conversation

Lloyds of London archives show how important the City was to transatlantic slavery

In 1783, the City of London was gripped by a court case which symbolised the brutal economics of slavery. Two years previously, the Liverpool slave ship Zong had set out from Accra, in present-day Ghana, with 442 men, women and children crammed in its hold.

The Conversation

It's not a cost of living crisis – it's a poverty pandemic

There is a poverty crisis in the UK. But when outlining his 110 growth measures aimed at getting “the British economy working” during his autumn statement, the chancellor’s measures to tackle the cost of living crisis were limited to economic support payments focused on short-term wins.

The Conversation

How minimum wage rises will affect the early years education and childcare sector

The early years sector – nurseries and childminders who offer services to children under the age of five – waited expectantly for news of investment in the UK chancellor’s recent autumn statement. But this was not delivered, even though Jeremy Hunt presented 110 economic measures designed to boost UK growth…

The Conversation

How Europe’s authoritarian populists maintain the illusion of a free press

Authoritarian leaders might be good at damaging democracy, but unless they are pure dictators they often still need to worry about winning elections. In the last few years, Europe has seen the rise of a number of authoritarian populists who rely on winning mass support among ordinary people – as…

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