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Rishi Sunak’s second budget was never likely to be big on surprises. The UK chancellor is reportedly anxious to start dragging the public finances back towards sanity, but March 2021 is no time for hawks. Instead Sunak majored on extending support measures to help workers and businesses see out lockdown, with only a couple of tax rises and some sober words about sustainable finances for the future.
But in fact, says Steve Schifferes, this disguises some heftty government austerity taking place behind the scenes. To achieve a proper economic bounceback, he argues, the Conservatives must dispense with their more austere instincts and take a leaf out of the American playbook. We have also assembled our usual team of budget experts to offer their snap reactions on everything from enterprise to levelling up to housing.
Meanwhile, we look at what happens to people who get infected by two variants of the coronavirus at the same time, and bring you the latest insights into the cuttlefish, whose self-control is on a par with
chimpanzees.
And if you have children at home this afternoon, sit them down in front of our Curious Kids live webinar on the solar system, in which space experts Monica Grady and Jacco van Loon will answer audience questions on our little part of the universe.
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Steven Vass
Business + Economy Editor
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Rolling the dice on a recovery.
EPA
Steve Schifferes, City, University of London
The plan is to achieve growth and level up without while sharply cutting the deficit.
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kitchen / Alamy Stock Photo
Maitreyi Shivkumar, De Montfort University
The real concern is if two variants infect the same cell and swap genetic material.
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Courtesy of the Grass Foundation.
Alexandra Schnell, University of Cambridge
A marine version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment helped show cuttlefish can delay gratification.
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Business + Economy
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Jonquil Lowe, The Open University; Alexander Tziamalis, Sheffield Hallam University; Andrew Cumbers, University of Glasgow; Despina Alexiadou, University of Strathclyde ; Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, York St John University; Felix FitzRoy, University of St Andrews; Jonny Munby, Teesside University; Karl Schmedders, International Institute for Management Development (IMD); Lisa Scullion, University of Salford; Mark Williams, Queen Mary University of London; Michael Jacobs, University of Sheffield; Phil Tomlinson, University of Bath; Suzanne Withrington, Teesside University; W David McCausland, University of Aberdeen
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has delivered his second pandemic budget for the Conservatives.
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Politics + Society
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Lisa Scullion, University of Salford; David Robertshaw, University of Leeds; Kate Summers, London School of Economics and Political Science; Robert de Vries, University of Kent
Although Rishi Sunak is extending the weekly £20 uplift, the government has missed an opportunity to given the benefits system the overhaul it needs
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Hanna Zagefka, Royal Holloway
Governments are naturally under pressure to focus on national rollouts. But the truth is none of us is safe until we're all safe.
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Jennifer Mathers, Aberystwyth University
Opposition protests continue and there are signs they are beginning to have an effect both inside and outside Belarus.
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Environment + Energy
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Tullia Jack, Aalborg University; Diana Ivanova, University of Leeds; Kirsten Gram-Hanssen, Aalborg University; Milena Buchs, University of Leeds
As households shrink, carbon footprints expand.
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Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quéré, University of East Anglia; Glen Peters, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo; Matthew William Jones, University of East Anglia; Pierre Friedlingstein, University of Exeter; Robbie Andrew, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo; Rob Jackson, Stanford University; Steve Davis, University of California, Irvine
The global pandemic caused an unprecedented drop in global emissions. But this is likely to rebound as economies start to recover.
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Alastair Dawson, University of Dundee; Martin Kirkbride, University of Dundee
New research challenges the idea that Laki caused years of extreme weather in Scotland and has implications for how we deal with sudden, forced climate change today.
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Science + Technology
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Patrick Koppenburg, Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics; Harry Cliff, University of Cambridge
The theory of tiny particles isn't complete. But new discoveries are helping scientists expand it.
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Michael Carroll, Manchester Metropolitan University
Older fathers have a lower chance of conceiving and increased chances of negative effects on children.
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Cities
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Hélène Duranton, SKEMA Business School
The need for social distancing sparked a cycling boom, cutting air pollution and boosting city dwellers' mental and physical health. But when the pandemic ends, will it be back to life as usual?
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Featured events
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University of Birmingham Facebook (Live), Birmingham, Birmingham, B152TT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Birmingham
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Online, Birningham, Warwickshire, B15 2TT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Birmingham
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Lecture Theatre 1, Richmond Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Portsmouth
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Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Cardiff [Caerdydd GB-CRD], CF10 3BA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Cardiff University
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