issue brief

Civil liberties are basic rights and freedoms granted to citizens of a country through national common or statute law. Read More

The Climate Change Levy (CCL) is an environmental tax on energy supplies to industry, commerce, agriculture, local administration and a number of other services. It does not apply at all to domestic energy supplies.Read More

"Class size" is a statistical measure employed by the Department for Education which measures the number of pupils taught in a class during a single selected period of a particular school day. This day is usually set to be in January each year to coincide with the Annual School Census.Read More

What is Cannabis? Cannabis is a durable hemp plant. The cannabis plant can be used to produce a number of products including seeds, pulp, and medicine. The pulp is used as fuel and to make paper, the seed is used in foods, and the oil from the seed can be used as a base for...Read More

Cancer is any malignant growth or tumour caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division.Read More

What is cannabis? Cannabis is a durable hemp plant. The cannabis plant can be used to produce a number of products including seeds, pulp, and medicine. The pulp is used as fuel and to make paper, the seed is used in foods, and the oil from the seed can be used as a base for...Read More

Capital punishment is the use of the death penalty by the state.Read More

The Channel Tunnel, also known as 'Euro-tunnel' (or 'Chunnel'), is a series of three tunnels (two carrying, one service tunnel) linking the southern coast of England near Folkestone to the northern coast of France outside Calais.Read More

Child abuse is a generic term describing the physical or mental mistreatment of anyone under the age of 16.Read More

Child poverty, as with poverty itself, is a complex notion to define precisely.Read More

During the last century, concern has grown about the pace at which climate change has been progressing and the extent to which human activity may be aggravating and distorting natural processes.Read More

Carbon offsetting aims to achieve an overall net reduction in greenhouse gases. Rather than reducing carbon emissions, individuals and businesses are encouraged to compensate for their emissions to achieve a carbon neutral net result.Read More

Corporal punishment refers to the use of physical punishment to correct behaviour. The term derives from the Latin corpus, meaning body.Read More

The Maastricht Treaty of 1993 allows the EU to develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), covering all areas of foreign and security policy.Read More

Cloning is one of the most controversial areas of scientific research of recent times. The term 'cloning' means the asexual reproduction of identical copies of an original, and it is human cloning (and to a lesser extent animal cloning) for reproductive purposes that causes considerable public disquiet.Read More

The key objectives of the common agricultural policy (CAP), as enshrined in the EU treaties, are to: Increase agricultural productivity thus to ensure a fair standard of living for agricultural producers; stabilise markets; assure availability of supplies; ensure reasonable prices to consumers. Read More

Local government is financed by a combination of centrally-administered funding and locally-administered charges and taxes - the most significant of which is council tax.Read More

The European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was adopted in 1983, with the objective of ensuring that declining fish stocks are exploited responsibly - protecting the environment and the interests of the fishing industry and consumers.Read More

The congestion charge is a daily levy imposed on drivers choosing to drive within central London. It applies between 07:00 and 18:00 on Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.Read More