By Matthew Findlay Correspondent, Mathematics Undergraduate Student The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) recently entered the mainstream discussion in several countries. Finland is currently trialling the policy, and it is being lauded and criticized by commentators from across the political spectrum. So what is UBI, anyway? According to the basic income website, a UBI…
Category: The United Kingdom
The London Terror Attack: Perspective, Honesty & Hope
By Erika Brady Columnist, PhD Student at the Handa Center of Terrorism and Political Violence The attack in London on 22 March 2017 has, unsurprisingly, been dominant in the British media for the past week. At the outset, the viewer and reader was bombarded with flashy headlines and minute by minute analysis, even when there was no…
Northern Ireland’s parties negotiate a return to power-sharing
By Conor Tully Correspondent, Undergraduate IR & Russian Student On Thursday 2nd March, Northern Ireland went to the polls for the second time in less than a year. The Executive, having withstood considerable pressure in recent years over unresolved issues from the Troubles, had collapsed. A botched energy scheme set up by the first minister —the Democratic…
Labour: A Party Divided
By Ruaraidh Maciver Editor-in-Chief, History Student Political polls haven’t had the best of reputations recently. In the 2015 British general election, no major poll showed a Conservative majority government, with both YouGov and Lord Ashcroft predicting a far closer race, with both primary parties being tied going into the final days. The polls on…
Barriers to Progress on Climate Change Agreements Still Ahead
By Siobhan Kelly Editor, Undergraduate Economics Student There is now little doubt that climate change is occurring, and that human activity is the primary cause. Empirical evidence for the greenhouse effect has mounted, whereby the build up of Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is leading to global warming and other important climate…
Labour’s £205 Billion Nuclear Problem
By: Felix Langley Classics Undergraduate Student On the 26th of September the Shadow Defence Secretary, Clive Lewis, announced that Labour would henceforth follow a policy of multilateral disarmament and that he would not use his position to try to turn Labour to unilateralism1. Two days later Jeremy Corbyn expressed his disagreement with Labour’s previous decision to back…
“But We Have No Slaves in the UK”
By Giovy Drysdale-Anderson Economics & English Student As it was Anti-Slavery Day earlier this week, this is an ideal time to reflect on the issue of Modern Day slavery and assess the role the UK ought to play in fighting this global issue. One of the earliest recorded cases of slavery in Scotland is the 1687…
Brexit Stage Left: The Decline of the United Kingdom and the Future of the European Project
By: Adam Stromme Editor-in-Chief, Economics and International Relations Undergraduate Student The outcome of the European Referendum has already had devastating consequences, and sowed the seeds of uncertainty for people both within Britain and in Europe. St Andrews itself is abuzz with fretting students and rising anxiety, much of which prompted the swift response from the…
Should we stay or should we go?
By Tom Claridge International Relations Graduate Student, Columnist Essentially, both sides of the EU debate are right. The Leave campaign is correct when they talk of the Union’s impact upon Parliament’s sovereignty, as the EU does have the ability to make rules for its twenty-seven member states. Each European law is essentially one part British…
Brexit in the Bubble
By Blanca Franch Camino Undergraduate Economics Student, Correspondent Politics, despite popular misconceptions, affects our lives in several ways. A Brexit would have serious repercussions in St Andrews, since both the financial structure and the entire higher education system are tied up in the European Union. St Andrews would see marked effects on both its funding…
Une Revolution sans Revolution: Scotland & the Panama Papers
By Amy Westwell Tait Masters Student of Literature in Intellectual History In the early days of the French Revolution, a curious phenomenon occurred. Aristocrats who held provincial privileges, titles, and rights to land, legislated to destroy their own privilege. Later they would explicitly ban insignia adorning houses: coats of arms and weathercocks. Did they partake in this masochistic…
Students for Life: a Controversial Society
Dominic Nolan talks with Jack Stukel, the President of the Students for Life – St Andrews, about running a controversial society in a university environment. What does your society do? Students for Life St Andrews is all about promoting a culture of life in St Andrews University and to celebrate life from conception till natural…
