The Labour Government's plans for breakfast clubs are just the latest stage in a history of the state feeding children at school which stretches back for over a century. Policy in this area has been prompted by a far wider range of motivations than simply an altruistic concern for children's health, and debates about state-intervention have inevitably become politicised. John Stewart points to the importance of viewing new initiatives within the context of broader policies designed to tackle the structural problem of child problem, one that has proved depressingly persistent.
The pollution of the Thames is not a new phenomenon. For much of the twenieth century it was tolerated so long as London's tap water was adequate. Privatisation clearly did not provide the solution. But John Davis argues that Thames Water's current financial difficulties may offer an opportunity for the government to take decisive action.
Despite the approach of the 55th anniversary of the 1970 Equal Pay Act and the 15th of the 2010 Equality Act, the recent employment tribunal ruling in favour of female workers at Next points to the continuing difficulty workers face in proving unfair treatment, particularly those in the commercial sectors. And more broadly, argues Susan Milner, society still needs properly to address the question of why women's work has been devalued for so long.
The government's new Children's Wellbeing Bill, announced in the King's Speech, represents a welcome move to improve child protection. But Annie Skinner argues that the measures proposed do not address the long-standing issue of the stigmitisation of children in care.
Dame Judith Hackitt, who chaired the Health & Safety Executive from 2007 to 2016, reflects on the conference History and Policy's Trades Union and Employment Forum will be hosting on 25 November on the history of health and safety at work.
On Friday 7 June, St John’s College, Cambridge hosted a special colloquium entitled ‘Health and Wealth: debating demography, gender, politics, welfare and policy’ to mark the retirement of one of History & Policy’s co-founders, Professor Simon Szreter.
H&P is working in partnership with the Prime Minister's Office and the National Archives to help revitalise the history content of the new History of Government Blog website.
H&P commissions and edits the No. 10 Guest Historian series, written by expert historians from the H&P network, as well as creating lively new biographies of previous Prime Ministers.
H&P is based at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London.
We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.
