Today is a day of celebration, at JPIT and for peace campaigners all around the world. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has reached fifty ratifications and will enter into legal force after a period of ninety days. Nuclear weapons are by their very nature …
Nestlé confirms Fairtrade KitKat decision
Despite a widely supported and passionate campaign over the summer, the world's largest food company, Nestlé, has confirmed its June 2020 decision to drop the Fairtrade Mark from KitKat chocolate bars. We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who supported the #KeepKitKatFairtrade …
Women of Churches in Cameroon call for an immediate halt to Violence
On 21 September, International Day of Peace, women from a wide coalition of churches in Cameroon released a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire after violent conflict in the Anglophone region [1]. Women from churches in Cameroon’s Anglophone region have called on both the …
Security, defence, and development: an integrated review
In February of this year, the Prime Minister announced an integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy. It would be the largest review of these areas since the end of the Cold War. At JPIT we welcomed such a wide-ranging brief. The opportunities offered by an integrated …
Introducing Meg
I’m Meg, and I’m so excited to start work as a JPIT / House of Commons intern. I’ve just graduated from the London School of Economics with a politics degree. I spent my time at university playing sport, working part time for a South London MP and volunteering with my church’s compassion ministries. …
Introducing Rodney
I’m Rodney, this year’s JPIT/House of Commons Intern. I live in Welling, which is the second largest area of Bexley. I recently completed an LLM in Constitutional Politics, Law & Theory at Birkbeck, University of London. Growing up in a Christian family has taught me that, as God’s children, …
Introducing Lucy
I’m Lucy, and I’m really excited to have just started work as JPIT’s new full-time intern. Having spent the last three years fossilising among medieval manuscripts and piles of books while studying for an undergraduate degree in English at the University of Cambridge, I’ve landed in this new …
How I fell out of love with Universal Basic Income
I desperately want to see an end to Universal Credit. Last month I sat with a church member facing threats of eviction from her landlord. Like many people at the moment, work has dried up and she has no income coming in. Her application for Universal Credit has been denied repeatedly. She will get …
What can I do to make change?
Over this series we’ve been digging in to how decisions and therefore change is made in the UK. Hopefully by this point, we all have a stronger understanding of the structures in place that lead to policy change, but we shouldn’t stop there. The final question we’re addressing is: what can I do to …
Who really makes change?
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is an adage which holds true in many settings, politics not completely excluded. Key to making change, is understanding who has the power to make that change. Of course the biggest decisions are ultimately made in parliament, by MPs (although as …