The Why? Curve

Is it time our ancient monarchy got a modern makeover? When a prince of the realm can be downgraded to plain Mr Mountbatten Windsor, has something fundamental shifted in the magic and mystique? The accident of birth means that not all members of the royal family will be morally-upstanding and dutifu...

Is everything becoming the same? High streets all over the world with identical shops, people consuming the same burgers, the same video games, the same social media, the same music? Are we losing what makes us different - the cultures, the foods, the languages? In a world of online hyper-connectivi...

How do you deal with the world's second largest economy when it seem to be intent on spying in the UK, persecuting dissidents here, and hacking into our computer systems? Is the priority national security, or keeping on good terms with our third-largest trading partner at a time when we are in despe...

Will we all soon be required to show our ID cards? The government says it wants a digital and universal ID system in place to counter illegal working and benefit fraud. It’s been tried before, and many of its opponents say it will fail again. But what is the case for ID cards? Will they solve any pr...

The most successful political party in Europe is contemplating oblivion. The Conservatives, soundly rejected last year by voters, have a leader no-one likes, the fewest MPs in their history, and an existential threat from Reform UK’s rise. Is there a way back, as there was after 1997? Or is this the...

The US president says paracetamol use can cause autism, and climate change is a giant con. A British GP tells the Reform party Covid vaccinations led to cancer in the royal family. Surveys show faith in conventional science is declining. So are fringe theories and fake medicines becoming mainstream?...

Keir Starmer has made a point of cosying-up to President Trump - even bringing him to the UK for an unprecedented second state visit - but does it actually make any difference to relations between London and Washington? Is the UK a useful ally? A client state? Or a quaint irrelevance in a world domi...

Whatever happened to the LibDems? The largest number of MPs for almost a century. The country’s right wing in chaos. The government in meltdown. Surely the one confident, united party should break through? But the LibDems seem to be absent. Phil and Roger speak about this to Paul Whiteley, Professor...

The chancellor has ten weeks to find a way to balance the books. But is she going to raise taxes - and risk harming economic growth? Or does she cut the welfare budget - and bring misery to many of those who voted her government into power? Has Keir Starmer now taken control of the process from Rach...

Flags are everywhere - Union Jacks and the Cross of St George going up on lamp posts, walls, street-corners and even roundabouts. Is it an attempt an intimidation by the far-right, or just a sign of patriotic spirit? Is a society that doesn’t usually wear its national identity on its sleeve, beginni...