Expert opinion

Blog: Brexit legislation in the Supreme Court: the United Kingdom at legal war with itself

Professor Sionaidh Douglas-Scott from Queen Mary's School of Law wrote an opinion piece for Prospect Magazine in which she wrote about the UK Supreme Court decision on the legality of the Scottish Continuity Bill adopted by the Scottish Parliament back in March, and its compatibility with the UK EU Withdrawal Act (EUWA) which became law in June 2018. Professor Douglas-Scott argues that devolved authorities feel their interests have not been taken seriously.

Blog: We’re becoming desensitised to poverty in the UK – it’s time the government made food a basic right

Professor Geraldine Van Bueren from the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London has written an opinion piece for The Independent in which she calls for the UK government to introduce a right to food. She argues that the use of food banks ought to be a source of national shame and parliamentary action.

Blog: You may not actually own your Bitcoin – legal expert

Dave Michels, a Research Associate at Queen Mary University of London has co-authored an opinion piece for The Conversation about crypto-currencies. He argues that digital tokens are unlikely to be identifed as property by courts in England and Wales.

Blog: Migrant caravan: branding migrants ‘human shields’ has a deadly motive

Neve Gordon, Lecturer in Public Law at Queen Mary University of London has co-authored an opinion piece for The Conversation about discourses concerning migration in the United States. He argues that the use of military vocabulary to describe migrants is both calculated and potentially deadly.

Blog: Brazil elections 2018: how will a Bolsonaro victory affect migration policy in Brazil and beyond?

Marcia Vera Espinoza, a Lecturer in Human Geography at Queen Mary University of London has co-authored an opinion piece for the LSE Blog with Leiza Brumat (European University Institute) about the forthcoming presidential elections in Brazil.

Blog: Violence against women: Nobel Peace Prize is a start – but legal backing is long overdue

Daniela Nadj, Lecturer in Public Law at Queen Mary University of London has written an opinion piece for The Conversation about decision to award the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to two campaigners against sexual violence towards women in conflict. She argues that it's a good start but more needs to be done.

Blog: In our mission to deliver impact, we’re stronger together

Professor Colin Grant, Vice-Principal (International), has written an opinion piece for Times Higher Education. He argues that coalitions between universities, industry and innovative actors will drive tangible social and economic change.

Blog: Conservative conference: a party surprisingly united on Brexit, just divided from the rest of the world

Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London has written an opinion piece for The Conversation about the Conservative Party conference 2018 and the state of the Party in the run-up to Brexit.

Blog: UNRWA and Trump's attempt to erase the Palestinian people

Neve Gordon, Professor of International Law, wrote an opinion piece for Al Jazeera arguing that by cutting the funding to the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA), President Donald Trump wants to eliminate the Palestinians' demand for the right to return.

Blog: Tackling multiple sclerosis in the Outer Hebrides

Beki Aldam is Public Engagement Coordinator in the Barts-MS team based at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London. In this blog, she talks about her team’s trip to a remote island in the Outer Hebrides to organise an event for multiple sclerosis patients who have limited access to neurologists.

Blog: Working towards a common goal of solving child malnutrition

Ruairi Robertson is a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London. In the second part of his blog covering a recent trip to Zimbabwe, he reports from a symposium bringing together experts from all over the world and from different fields, who are hoping to find a solution to widespread child malnutrition.

Blog: Zimbabwe’s new era and hopes for treating child malnutrition

Ruairi Robertson is a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London. In this two-part blog, he describes his recent trip to Zimbabwe where he and his team are carrying out research into severe acute malnutrition.

Blog: Why I returned my Ebola medal to the Government

In 2015, the Government awarded Dr Claire Ferraro the Ebola medal to acknowledge her work during the Ebola crisis. On Tuesday, along with twenty other Ebola volunteers, she returned her medal in opposition to the current ‘hostile environment’ in the NHS and its charging regulations that are deterring undocumented migrants from accessing healthcare in the UK. Dr Ferraro is a teaching and research fellow at Queen Mary University of London’s Public Global Health Unit.

Blog: Frans Timmermans’ subsidiarity proposals do not go far enough to address the EU’s democratic deficit

The EU’s principle of ‘subsidiarity’ states that only actions which cannot be effectively achieved at the national level and can be better achieved at the EU level should be exercised by the EU according to Dr Davor Jancic, Lecturer in Law in the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London. Davor Jancic assessed the European Commission report, Taskforce on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and Doing Less More Efficiently, in a piece for the European Poltics and Policy blog.

Blog: Cliff Richard judgment is a new shift in legal balance between free speech and privacy

How far do a celebrity’s privacy rights – or indeed anyone’s – extend in respect of the pre-charge stage of a police investigation? This is the question posed by Professor Robin Callender Smith, a Visiting Professor in the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London in a piece recently published in The Conversation.

Blog: Theresa May’s Brexit plan will strengthen rather than weaken European legal control

Far from a clean divorce from the EU, the UK will remain considerably tied to EU law and the European Court of Justice for years to come according to Dr Davor Jancic, Lecturer in Law in the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London. Davor Jancic analysed the future role of the European Court of Justice following Brexit in a piece recently published in The Conversation.

Blog: Britain’s hostility to those seeking refuge didn’t start with Theresa May – it dates back a century

The UK has gone from civilised hospitality to hostility when it comes to providing sanctuary and refuge argues to Dr Yasmin Ibrahim, Reader in International Business and Communications in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. Yasmin Ibrahim explored the history of refuge and asylum in the UK in a recent piece published in The Conversation.

Blog: Britain’s hostility to those seeking refuge didn’t start with Theresa May – it dates back a century

More than 120 leading economists have argued that the UK government’s treatment of the recent refuge crisis is ‘seriously inadequate, morally unacceptable and economically wrong. Yasmin Ibrahim, Reader in International Business and Communications co-authored an article for the conversation about the British government’s long standing attitude towards refugees.

Blog: Versions of Han Solo’s blaster exist – and they’re way more powerful than real lightsabers would be

Dr Martin Archer from Queen Mary’s School of Physics and Astronomy had an article published in The Conversation about how feasible the blaster weapons used by, among others, the Star Wars character Han Solo are – and how they compare with lightsabers.

Blog: Dispersing refugees around a country puts them at an immediate disadvantage – why this matters for integration

Francesco Fasani, Reader (Associate Professor) in the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University of London, writes in The Conversation about refugee integration.

Blog: Celebrating International Women's Day: Widening Participation visits the Votes for Women exhibition

To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Widening Participation team invited a group of female students and graduates to visit the Votes for Women exhibition at the Museum of London, and discuss what it is like to be women in higher education today. Michelle McAvoy reflects on the visit. 

Blog: Celebrating World Book Day: Widening Participation’s Boys, Books and Blogging project

Michelle McAvoy is a Coordinator for the Widening Participation team based in Marketing and Communications, Queen Mary University of London. To celebrate World Book Day 2018, she reflects on her experiences of running the Boys, Books and Blogging programme.

Blog: Dentistry, X-rays and Morecambe and Wise

Graham Davis is Professor of 3D X-ray Imaging at Queen Mary’s Institute of Dentistry. In this blog post, he describes his team’s work in helping the BBC to restore a lost episode of the Morecambe and Wise Show from a disintegrated film reel, as featured in the latest episode of BBC Click.

Blog: Learning from the survivors of Hiroshima

We recently sponsored two of our Global Health alumni to travel and attend the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations in Oslo, Norway. In this blog post, Miranda Liang reports from the Nobel Peace Lecture, discussing the moving moment when Hiroshima survivors spoke of their experiences of nuclear weapons, and what this means for global health.

Blog: The Gendered Aspect of Nuclear Weapons and War

Last weekend, we sponsored one of our Global Health alumni to travel and attend the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations in Oslo, Norway. In this blog post, Krishen Samuel reports from the Nobel Peace Lecture and discusses gender issues in the context of debates about nuclear war.

Blog: Why nuclear deterrence is dangerous and bound to fail

Last weekend, we sent two alumni from Queen Mary’s Global Public Health Unit to the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations in Oslo, Norway. They accompanied Professor David McCoy, who was involved in the coalition that won this year’s Prize. In this blog post, David discusses how we might move on from this year’s spotlight on nuclear disarmament and ensure that politicians and academics work to finally eliminate these weapons.

Blog: HPV jab and better tests mean women will need only three cervical screens from 2021

Rebecca Landy, Cancer Screening Statistician at Queen Mary University of London, writes in The Conversation about why women who have a HPV jab may only need three cervical screens in a lifetime.

Blog: Westminster harassment: this is not just about sex, it’s about power

Rainbow Murray, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary, writes for The Conversationabout the sexual harassment scandal in British politics.

Blog: Challenges and opportunities for EU energy policy

A new book from QMUL's Professor Rafael Leal-Arcas presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the most important research and latest trends in EU energy law and policy. In this article, he talks about some of the major challenges facing the EU in terms of energy policy. 

Blog: No push for a domino effect: Brexit doesn’t loom large in populist radical right parties’ campaigns

Dr Stijn van Kessel writes for UK in a Changing Europe on how Brexit didn’t create a surge of populist radical right parties (PRR) wanting to leave the European Union.