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With Keir Starmer standing accused of breaking lockdown rules during a trip to Durham ahead of the local elections in May 2021, the time once again came this week for legal expert Alan Greene and I to grab the dusty old binder marked “Past Covid legislation” from The Conversation bookshelf.
Whenever a new date crops up in the partygate scandal, we’ve tried to pin down precisely what the coronavirus laws (for that is what they were called) did and didn’t prohibit at the time. It’s absolutely mind boggling how many times the regulations changed throughout the course of the pandemic so it quickly gets very confusing.
But Greene has managed to identify which parts of the law applied to Starmer on April 30, 2021 – and in Durham, specifically. He finds that the Labour leader’s fate now rests on whether his actions that day were “reasonably necessary” as part of his election campaigning.
The question of whether primary school children should be assigned homework is a subject of much parental anxiety. We look into the evidence on this matter before also turning to another important debate – how to handle our likely failure to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
In the second week of this month’s donations campaign we’ve hit 25% of our fundraising target, and have found 19% of the 1,000 new donors or new monthly donors we hope to reach this month. If you enjoy what you read here and value the contribution of The Conversation’s authors and our efforts to share their expertise, please consider becoming a donor today.
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Laura Hood
Politics Editor, Assistant Editor
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Alamy/
Alan Greene, University of Birmingham
The question of whether the Labour leader broke the rules in Durham Miners Club will come down to whether the gathering was ‘reasonably necessary’ for work or election campaigning.
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Dragon Images/Shutterstock
Paul Hopkins, University of Hull
The case for homework for primary-age children is not clear.
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aappp/shutterstock
James Dyke, University of Exeter; Julia K. Steinberger, University of Leeds
Every tenth of a degree makes climate change significantly worse.
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Politics + Society
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Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
There is a strong correlation between local election results and general election results two years later. If that pattern holds, Johnson’s parliamentary majority is at risk.
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Catherine Baker, University of Hull
Ukraine’s Eurovision contestant is building on a wave of support for the nation’s music in past contests.
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Ukraine Invasion
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Paul Baines, University of Leicester
Ukraine’s savvy president is beating Putin at his own game.
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Frank Ledwidge, University of Portsmouth
Intelligence reports say Russia’s latest weaponry is not as devastating as it might look.
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Health
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Ziggi Ivan Santini, University of Southern Denmark; Charlotte Meilstrup, University of Copenhagen; Line Nielsen, University of Copenhagen; Rob Donovan, The University of Western Australia; Vibeke Jenny Koushede, University of Copenhagen
Our study shows that people who believe they can do things to improve their mental health have higher wellbeing.
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Nienke Wagenaar, Utrecht University; Lisanne Baak, Utrecht University; Niek van der Aa, Utrecht University
New research shows promise in reversing damage to newborn babies who have had a stroke.
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Environment
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Cristina Stewart, University of Oxford; Rachel Pechey, University of Oxford
A traffic light labelling system and making sustainable dishes the default menu option boosted their popularity.
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Shruti Bhogal, University of Cambridge; Adam S. Green, University of Cambridge; Cameron Andrew Petrie, University of Cambridge; Sandeep Dixit, University of Cambridge
Millets have been around for thousands of years – and are back in fashion.
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Business + Economy
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Tom Stacey, Anglia Ruskin University
Governments may be forced to put back deadlines to shift away from petrol and diesel.
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Arts + Culture
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Catherine Baker, University of Hull
Ukraine’s Eurovision contestant is building on a wave of support for the nation’s music in past contests.
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— London, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — UCL
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— Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — UCL
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— Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — UCL
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— The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M139PL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Manchester
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