Author Archives: Edward Marsh

Edward Marsh

Redirecting the funds to the jobs Britain cannot do without

By Edward Marsh | Mon 17th August 2026 - 4:30 pm

Britain has developed a curious contradiction in the way it values essential work. We routinely express admiration for soldiers, nurses, care workers and other public servants whose labour sustains the functioning of society, yet the material rewards attached to many of these professions frequently bear little relationship to their social importance. At the same time, the state commits substantial resources to supporting people outside employment.

This raises a fundamental question about the architecture of welfare and public policy: should a proportion of welfare expenditure be reconceived not merely as a mechanism for supporting people outside employment, but as an investment in making socially indispensable work more economically attractive?

The objective should be to construct a sufficiently compelling economic and social proposition that moving from welfare into essential employment becomes an attractive choice rather than merely an obligation.

This would require us to think more imaginatively about the concept of a “core service profession”. Certain occupations possess an importance that extends beyond their immediate economic function. A nurse does not merely provide a service to an individual patient; the profession is integral to the resilience of the entire health system.

These occupations could therefore be recognised as a distinct category of employment: professions in which the state and society have a strategic interest in recruitment, retention and long-term participation. Recognition, however, should amount to more than ceremonial appreciation.

The state could construct a comprehensive package of fiscal and social advantages for designated core-service occupations. These might include substantial income-tax relief, preferential access to affordable housing, heavily discounted public transport, enhanced pension contributions, subsidised childcare, training opportunities and other employment-related benefits.

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Edward Marsh

The future of war has arrived: It’s the Navy

By Edward Marsh | Thu 6th August 2026 - 5:30 pm

The character of warfare is undergoing a profound transformation. While the fundamental nature of war – competition, coercion and violence remains unchanged, the methods by which states pursue strategic advantage have evolved dramatically. Conventional military forces remain essential, but the decisive battles of the twenty-first century are increasingly fought beyond traditional frontlines. The new centre of gravity lies in the resilience of a nation’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Energy grids, telecommunications networks, transport systems, financial institutions, water supplies and digital connectivity have become both strategic assets and prime targets. The future of conflict is increasingly focused on disrupting, degrading and manipulating the infrastructure that underpins modern societies.

Recent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have demonstrated this shift. Military success is no longer measured solely by territorial gains but by the ability to paralyse an adversary’s essential services. Attacks on energy facilities, communications networks and logistics hubs aim not only to destroy physical assets but to undermine political legitimacy, economic stability and public confidence. Modern warfare has become multidimensional, combining kinetic strikes with cyber operations, electronic warfare and information campaigns to generate strategic effects far greater than the weapons themselves might suggest. Infrastructure has become both the battlefield and the weapon.

The war in Ukraine has reinforced this reality with exceptional clarity. Russia’s sustained campaign against Ukraine’s electricity generation, transmission networks and energy distribution systems has demonstrated the strategic value of targeting CNI. Missile and drone attacks have sought to deny electricity, heating and communications to civilian populations while constraining Ukraine’s military capability. These were not simply tactical operations but part of a broader strategy of societal attrition intended to erode resilience, impose economic costs and weaken national morale. Ukraine has also demonstrated the offensive potential of this approach, conducting strikes against Russian economic targets, including major retail infrastructure, bringing the effects of war directly to the civilian population and illustrating how infrastructure attacks can generate strategic pressure without territorial conquest.

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Edward Marsh

Extending the school day: A catalyst for economic growth

By Edward Marsh | Wed 22nd July 2026 - 10:57 am

Extending the school day represents far more than an educational reform; it constitutes a strategic economic investment capable of substantially increasing national productivity. In modern economies, where dual-income households have become the norm rather than the exception, the traditional school timetable – often ending between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. – is increasingly incongruent with standard working hours. This temporal mismatch imposes significant constraints upon parents, particularly mothers, who disproportionately bear responsibility for childcare. Consequently, extending the school day would not merely improve educational opportunities for pupils but would also liberate human capital currently underutilised due to caregiving obligations. By enabling both parents to participate more fully in the labour market, particularly by facilitating women’s career progression, governments could stimulate economic growth through increased employment, higher productivity, greater tax revenues, and a more efficient allocation of talent.

One of the most significant economic advantages of a longer school day is its capacity to increase labour force participation among parents. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), countries with accessible and reliable childcare consistently demonstrate higher rates of female employment than those where childcare provision is limited. The conventional school schedule often compels parents to reduce working hours, reject promotions, or withdraw entirely from employment because their children’s educational timetable does not align with the standard working day. Extending school hours would alleviate this structural impediment by providing supervised, educationally enriching environments for children throughout the working day. As a result, parents would gain the flexibility necessary to pursue full-time employment, thereby increasing the overall supply of labour available to the economy.

This benefit is particularly pronounced for women, who continue to undertake a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic and childcare responsibilities. The International Labour Organisation estimates that women perform approximately three times more unpaid care work than men globally. This unequal distribution of responsibilities contributes significantly to lower female labour market participation, and the persistent gender pay gap. Economists frequently refer to this phenomenon as the “motherhood penalty,” whereby women’s earnings and career progression stagnate following childbirth due to interrupted employment and reduced working hours. By extending the school day, governments would effectively reduce one of the principal structural barriers preventing women from pursuing continuous, full-time careers. Rather than forcing mothers into part-time employment or career interruptions, a longer school day would allow them to remain economically active during critical years of professional development.

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Edward Marsh

Securing the United Kingdom in a changing world: Why Mark Carney was right at Davos.

By Edward Marsh | Wed 28th January 2026 - 11:10 am

In a world still reeling from rapid geopolitical shifts, the question of national security and strategic autonomy has never been more pressing for the United Kingdom. The post-Second World War era of a relatively stable, rules-based international order – underpinned by multilateral institutions, shared norms, and strong Western alliances – is being challenged on multiple fronts. Nowhere was this tension clearer than in Mark Carney’s landmark address at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, where he delivered a stark analysis of the changing global order and what it means for middle powers like the UK.

Carney’s central thesis was that the international system is not merely evolving – it is rupturing. For decades, the UK, alongside its allies, benefited from what was labelled a rules-based order: predictable trade, collective security, open sea-lanes, and multilateral dispute resolution. But that era is increasingly giving way to a world dominated by great power rivalry and economic coercion. According to Carney, we are now in “the midst of a rupture, not a transition” – a point that resonates as global leaders grapple with the reality of a more volatile geopolitical landscape.

This rupture is characterised by powerful states leveraging economic integration as a strategic tool and weapon — using tariffs, supply-chain dependencies, financial infrastructure, and energy ties to bend smaller partners to their aims. Carney warned that continuing to rely on outdated assumptions of mutual benefit is no longer tenable when integration itself can become a source of subordination.

Much of the backdrop to Carney’s analysis is the reality of the international leadership exerted by the United States under President Donald Trump, whose policies have unsettled long-standing diplomatic norms. Trump’s aggressive trade stance – including tariff threats tied to strategic interests such as Greenland – and his readiness to prioritise unilateral action over multilateral cooperation have highlighted the fragility of previous assumptions about Western unity.

While Carney refrained from naming Trump directly in his speech, the subtext was unmistakable: the security environment that the UK has long relied upon – anchored by predictable American leadership – is no longer guaranteed. The UK can no longer take for granted that allies will act within established norms or that economic integration will safeguard its interests.

What this means for the UK and for us as Liberal Democrats

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Edward Marsh

Bravery in the open

By Edward Marsh | Tue 13th January 2026 - 12:13 pm

The plates of British politics are drifting like never before, populism on the right and the left  creating a chasm at the heart of the centre ground; now is the time to sprint towards it, claim it, and take the once in a generation opportunity to become the radical centre. Being noticed doesn’t need to be the next stunt, great ideas will suffice.

In an era defined by uncertainty, Liberal Democrats face a defining challenge: whether to speak plainly and bravely about the issues that most shape people’s lives and suggest radical reforms, even when those issues are complex, controversial, politically challenging, or indeed, a combination of these. Immigration, the economy, defence, health and yes – the welfare state, are not easy topics. They provoke strong emotions, expose internal disagreements, and invite fierce scrutiny. But they are precisely the areas where clear, liberal values are most needed in today’s Britain, and where populism is currently winning on messaging.

For too long, politics has rewarded evasion in a world dominated by the boiled down semblance of detail. Soundbites replace substance, and difficult trade-offs are glossed over in favour of comforting slogans. Yet voters are not naïve. They understand that governing a modern country involves choices, compromises, and sometimes uncomfortable truths. A party that is honest about this can earn trust—even from those who disagree. However, clarity and decisiveness are imperative in the face of populism, messaging on the country’s biggest issues is where we are often left wanting.

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