Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.
INTRODUCTION
In December 2020, a group of ex-professional and semi-professional rugby players – including World Cup-winning Steve Thompson, former Wales captain Ryan Jones and former All Blacks prop Carl Hayman – sent a pre-action letter to World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union, suing them for failing to take protective action against the risks caused by concussion [Ref: BBC Sport]. Two years later and the case is destined to go to the courts, a settlement having not been reached [Ref: Guardian]. It is the first legal move of its kind in world rugby, with some comparing it to the class action against the NFL in 2011, where 20,000 retired players accused the league of not warning about, and hiding, brain injuries associated with the sport [Ref: NFL Concussion Settlement].
Many of the over 180 players who have come forward so far have been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease. CTE was the disease discovered post-mortem by Dr Bennet Omalu in American football player Mike Webster [Ref: BBC Sport]. The disease gained public attention following the 2012 suicide of NFL player Junior Seau, who was posthumously found to be a sufferer of the disease [Ref: NPR].
Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.
INTRODUCTION
Since the Covid pandemic, the battle against obesity and unhealthy lifestyles has been more ferocious than ever. Lifestyle factors were found to have a huge influence over how vulnerable people are to hospitalisation and death if infected with Covid-19 [Ref: Office for National Statistics], and after his own brush with death, Boris Johnson announced new plans for rules and regulations to encourage a healthier way of living [Ref: Guardian]. These included widening the existing sugary drinks tax, toughening up packaging rules, introducing a pre-9pm ban on adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and a ban on special offer promotions of HFSS food in supermarkets [Ref: UK Government].
However, during her short reign as prime minister, Liz Truss threatened to reverse the sugar tax and get rid of plans to further regulate the public’s eating habits, despite calls from healthcare professionals to continue with Johnson’s programme [Ref: Sustain]. Now with intermittent-fasting, ‘slimline’ [Ref: Evening Standard] Rishi Sunak taking the reins as prime minister, there is thought to be a shift back to more government intervention. This flip-flopping between stances by successive leaders shows a clear divide between those who think the state ought to intervene to combat obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and critics who argue such policies are unnecessary, illiberal and doomed to fail.
Attempts to regulate the public’s bad habits are nothing new, such as the medieval banning of football [Ref: Bleacher Report] or the American prohibition of alcohol in the early twentieth century [Ref: Thought]. The more recent trend in regulation however, started with tobacco. Since the discovery of the health risks associated with smoking became apparent in the 1950s, legislation has been put in place to reduce it. This process has accelerated in the past 20 years so, with higher taxes, public smoking bans and rules for advertising and packaging [Ref: UK Government]. Should the way that governments have tackled smoking be a template for wider issues of health?
Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.
INTRODUCTION
Although the issue of slave trade reparations has long been contentious, a new wave of the debate began in 2022. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth, there has been scrutiny of her reign and the legacy of the British Empire in general. Several former colonies are progressing plans to remove the British monarch as their head of state and calling for reparations themselves [Ref: The Atlantic]. Contributing to this new push for reparations was the endorsement of reparations policies in the 2020 US election by leading Democrats, including the then speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi [Ref: NYTimes], Senator Elizabeth Warren [Ref: Reuters] and vice-presidential candidate, Kamala Harris [Ref: Daily Mail].
Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.
INTRODUCTION
The issue of social egg freezing has increasingly appeared in the news over the past decade as technological advances, celebrity endorsement and corporate cooperation make the procedure more widely known and available. Friends star Jennifer Aniston made headlines in late 2022 for confessing that she wished she had been told to freeze her eggs when she was younger [Ref: Allure]. In the UK, the issue has received particular attention as campaigners successfully lobbied for the time limit on egg freezing to be increased from 10 years to 55 years [Ref: BioNews]. But the debate has been taking place worldwide. For example, a city in Japan is now covering part of the cost of the treatment to combat their low birth-rate [Ref: BBC News] and a woman in China is suing her government for denying her the right to freeze her eggs because she is single [Ref: New York Times].
This Topic Guide was produced in association with the Federation of Awarding Bodies
INTRODUCTION
Today, more than half of 18- to 30-year-olds go into higher education, reaching a famous target set by Tony Blair 20 years previously when he was prime minister [source: Independent]. The Tony Blair Institute (a think tank set up by Blair) has published a report arguing that this number should be even higher: 70 per cent by 2040. The authors argue that the government is wrong to emphasise ‘skills’ or technical education [source: Tony Blair Institute].
But others believe the numbers are too high, with too many doing poor-value degrees. According to Sir Peter Lampl, the founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, ‘there are too many kids going to university. Too many graduates come out with a lot of debt, and in many cases they come out with skills that the marketplace doesn’t want.’ Lampl argued that students would be ‘better served’ by doing an apprenticeship where ‘you earn while you learn, you come out with no debt and you come out with skills the marketplace wants’ [source: Daily Telegraph].
Arguably, climate change, and the environmental problems that will occur as a result, are the most pressing issues that humankind faces. The outcome of the COP21 climate talks in Paris in 2015 was hailed as a momentous deal, in which countries pledged, among other things, to cap emissions, and seek to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and below the two degrees which many scientists believe would be disastrous for the planet [Ref: Guardian].
Yet as the COP26 talks in Glasgow in 2021 showed, declaring the ambition to cut emissions and actually doing so are two different things. According to analysis by Climate Action Tracker in the run-up to the talks, the cuts promised by the world’s nations are too small to prevent 1.5 degrees warming – and countries aren’t keeping those promises anyway. [Ref: Washington Post]
In May 2021, the government introduced the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill. The bill strengthens the legal duties on higher education providers in England to protect and promote freedom of speech and academic freedom [Ref:Department for Education]. The impetus for such measures is the belief that ‘cancel culture’ is undermining free speech within universities [Ref: inews]. The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said it is a basic human right ‘to be able to express ourselves freely and take part in rigorous debate’ [Ref:Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP].
Universities and students’ unions will face strengthened legal duties to ‘take reasonably practicable steps’ to secure and to promote freedom of speech ‘within the law’ and academic freedom. A new ‘free speech champion’, Professor Arif Ahmed [Ref: BBC News], will actively ensure universities comply with their duties and investigate alleged breaches, with institutions liable to face fines of up to £500,000. Academics, visiting speakers and students will gain a legal right to seek financial compensation [Ref: Varsity].
On 8 January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended the account of the former president, Donald J Trump. Although this final decision was provoked by Trump’s tweets before the riot at the Capitol building two days before, he had already been in trouble with social media companies for a variety of messages, particularly those loudly claiming unproven electoral fraud in the presidential election. (Ref: Washington Post)
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Meta (the parent company of Facebook) removed the Russian state-backed broadcaster RT from its platforms. (Ref: Independent). Posts from RT.com on Twitter, already labelled with the tag ‘Russia state-affiliated media’, were removed and replaced with a notice of ‘Account withheld’. (Ref: Twitter)
In June 2020, in a response to the Black Lives Matter protests and the toppling by protestors of a statue of Edward Colston [Ref: BBC], the Mayor of London set up the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm [ref: Wikipedia]. The aim of this commission is to ensure London’s monuments, plaques and street names reflect the diversity of the city today [ref: London.gov.uk]. Reviews of statues are being planned in other cities too, including Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle [Ref: Sky News]. Edinburgh City Council has convened a review group to look at public monuments, street or building names which have links to slavery and colonialism [Ref: Edinburgh Evening News].
The appointment of these commissions is the latest chapter in a long-running debate about historical monuments, with campaigns such as Rhodes Must Fall having argued for some time that such statues and public landmarks are more than just a symbol of past oppression – they represent the institutional racism which continues to exist today [Ref: BBC News]. ‘Protesters’, says one columnist, are ‘compelling entire nations to confront their present through a new understanding of their past’ [Ref: Guardian]. Some, however, worry that there is a tendency to ‘cleanse’ history of unsavoury – even appalling – elements. In the words of historian Mary Beard, ‘statues offer different challenges to our view of history … and remind us of our own fragility in the judgement of the future’ [Ref: TLS]. Others argue that history has now become ‘the most active front in a new culture war’ and that ‘actions are being taken widely and quickly in a way that does not reflect public opinion or growing concern over our treatment of the past’ [ref: Policy Exchange].
The UK government is planning to reduce the amount it spends on foreign aid [Ref: UK Government]. Prior to the decision, the foreign aid budget stood at 0.7% of gross national income (GNI), the amount targeted by the UN [Ref: United Nations]. Following the announcement, including news that there would be cuts to aid sent to countries struggling with widespread hunger, such as Yemen, South Sudan, and Somalia, a group of charities wrote to the prime minister urging a rethink, warning that ‘history will not judge this nation kindly if the government chooses to … destroy the UK’s global reputation as a country that steps up to help those most in need’ [Ref: BBC]. The plans have been defended by government officials as a necessary decision in light of ‘the seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy’ and that it has spent ‘more than £10 billion this year’ on good causes around the world [Ref: BBC].
The level of foreign aid has long been a controversial topic in British politics. For many, foreign aid is a moral imperative arising from the UK’s position as a rich country and its moral duties to help those worse off [Ref: Archbishop of Canterbury] – a duty that is doubly serious given the UK’s history of colonial exploitation and military intervention [Ref: Guardian]. In addition, many insist that foreign aid is a key source of ‘soft power’ for the UK and a way to ensure its international reputation and spread its values [Ref: The Conversation]. Nonetheless, others insist that ‘charity always begins at home’ [Ref: Express] and it is unacceptable that the UK spends money on relieving poverty abroad while homelessness and poverty exists in the UK [Ref: Guardian]. Likewise, they note that much foreign aid is given to relatively wealthy global economic powerhouses such as India and China [Ref: The Week]. In a time of economic crisis, such dubious expenses are said to be increasingly unaffordable.