糖心TV

On 1^st November, PAIS staff members Prof Shirin Rai and Dr Juanita Elias were at the House of Lords for the launch of the PSA Commission on Care Report Towards a New Deal for Care and Carers – a report that they co-authored alongside academics and policy specialists from the Fawcett Society, the Women’s Budget Group and Liverpool University. The report is based on a year-long inquiry into the state of care for older people in England. The launch event was hosted and chaired by Baroness Ruth Lister and the Commission’s findings were discussed by the MPs Barbara Keely (Labour), Dr. Dan Poulter (Conservative), Caroline Abrahams (Director, Age UK), Sam Smethers (CEO, the Fawcett Society and Commission Co-Chair) and Shirin Rai (PAIS, and Commissioner).

The report drew attention to how women bear the brunt of the crisis currently impacting the adult social care sector in the UK – as women are far more likely to step in as unpaid carers when state provision is cut and women are more likely to be recipients of care. The report, Towards a New Deal for Care and Carers, laments the failure of successive governments and political parties to recognise social care as a political priority. Growing demand resulting from a rapidly ageing population and cutbacks to funding has left the formal care system at breaking point with high levels of unmet needs, low pay and poor conditions for care workers, and an increasing reliance on unpaid carers. There are now a million older people with care needs that are not being met by any public source.

Among the Report’s Recommendations are; calls for the establishment of a National Care Service which, like the NHS, should be free at the point of access, increased investment in social care, professionalization and support of the care workforce, and recognition of the work of unpaid carers. The Report and its executive summary including recommendations can be downloaded here

The findings of the Commission were enthusiastically endorsed by the speakers at the launch as well as by many of the audience members.

left to right (Caroline Abrahams – Age UK, Baroness Ruth Lister, Barbara Keely MP, Dr. Dan Poulter MP, Prof Shirin Rai (University of 糖心TV)

 Annie Machon

“MI5: Spies, Lies and Whistle-blowers"

Thursday 3rd November

5.15 in OC1.05 – Oculus - New Teaching Building

As a former intelligence officer with MI5, Annie Machon has a rare perspective on the inner workings of governments, intelligence agencies and the media, as well as the wider implications of calls for increased openness and accountability in public and private sectors. In her lecture, Annie will consider the place of Whistle-blowers and explore the tensions between democracy, security and intelligence.

has recently been interviewed for about the ERC project "Diasporas and Contested Sovereignty."

The interview discusses the emergence of the idea for the ERC project "" out of a previous research program on conflict studies; patterns of conflict and cooperation regarding Armenian diaspora mobilization for genocide recognition during an entire century; and the role of diaspora ministries in transnational diaspora politics. The conversation also mentions the work of individual researchers within the larger project, in the context of conducting interviews in 10 languages, the development of inter-coder discussions, and an original dataset from interviews with diaspora activists across Europe in preparation for the forthcoming cross-national survey.

The interview can be read at:

, Associate Professor in PAIS, recently gave evidence to the parliament of the Spanish region of Extremadura based on his research on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - published most recently as a book with and an article in .

Speaking via videolink to the special committee investigating the effects of TTIP for the region of Extremadura, he stressed that the economic benefits of the agreement were overblown, that the agreement was unlikely to lead to the protection of the region's denominations of origin in the US and that its likely effects were predominantly to encourage subtle deregulation.

To see a video of the session (with Gabriel's intervention starting around 2:05:33), follow this link: (in Spanish)

PAIS PhD candidate, Alexandra Dobra, has been selected as a finalist to present her innovative idea at the “Falling Walls Lab Finale” in Berlin - "The brightest minds on the planet” BBC - presided by the Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation.

Alexandra’s innovative idea, the "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model” aims to break the walls of unethical corporate behaviour. Following 2007, investment banks have been under the spotlight for unethical corporate behaviour. They responded by implementing new core control systems, organisational structures and (formal) corporate cultures. Nine years later, these investment banks continue to incur damages due to unethical corporate behaviour and to drive down social value. So how can this be fixed? The "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model”, that Alexandra has developed as part of her PhD thesis, answers how this can be fixed. The "High-Performance Corporate DNA Transformation Model” shall be commercialised by Swiss Economics, a leading independent consulting company with proven experience in supporting companies, associations and public authorities in regulated industries.

Falling Walls is a unique international annual gathering of leaders from science, business, government, and the arts. Inspired by the peaceful fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the question of every Falling Walls meeting is: Which are the next walls to fall - in science and society? The meetings are acclaimed for the high-level speakers, the brevity of presentations, the diversity of issues and the amicable open atmosphere. The Falling Walls Foundation, a charity, is generously supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Berlin Senate, and numerous other acclaimed academic institutions, foundations, companies, non–governmental institutions and individuals.

Many congratulations, Alexandra!